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THE AUTOBIOGEAPHY 



Rev. ENOCH POND, D. D. 



FOR FIFTY YEARS 
PROFESSOR IN BANGOR THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 



^ JHemortal 

OF HIS CHARACTEK, WORK, AND LAST YEARS. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

,' ^^ BY THE 

^ Kev. EDWm POND PAKKER, D. D. 



What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he 
may see good? 
Keep thy tongne from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 
Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 

— Psalm xxxiv, 12-14. 




BOSTON: ^J^ 
(E0ttsresatt0nal .SuntJag^^cfjool anU }3u^lis?Jtng Societg, 

CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE, 
Corner Beacon and Somerset Streets. 



Till UMuir] 



'BX72ipO 



Copyright, 1883. 
By Congregational Sunday-School and Publishing Society. 



PEESS OF 

STANLEY AND TJ8HE», 

BOSTON, MASS. 



\ 



\ 



TO THE 
EARLY AND LATER FRIENDS AND PUPILS OF THE 

Eev. ENOCH POND, 

TO HIS CHILDREN AND CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, 

E!)ts Memorial 

OF OUR FATHER'S LIFE AND CHARACTER 

IS DEDICATED BY HIS 

DAUGHTER. 



BucKSPORT, Maine: 1883. 



y 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Dr. Parker's Introduction v 

Introduction to the Autobiography 1 

Chap. I. — Parentage^ Early Life, and Studies . 3 
„ II. — College Life and Theological Studies 15 
,y III. — Preaching as a Candidate. — Settle- 
ment and Marriage 28 

,, IV. — My Ministry in Ward 35 

,, V. — Life as an Editor in Boston ... 54 
„ VI. — Bangor and the Theological Semi- 
nary ^2 

y, VII. — My Residence in Bangor .... 68 

„ VIII. — Ministerial Labors in Bangor ... 95 

^^ IX.— Work of Publication 109 

„ X. — Social and Domestic Life in Bangor . 117 

,j XL — Last Years, Death, and Burial . . . 131 

Address at the Funeral of Dr. Pond 142 

Prayer 145 



INTRODUCTION. 



ENOCH POND, minister of the Gospel, Doctor of 
Divinity, Professor of Theology, writer of books, 
indefatigable toiler in his chosen field of Christian work, 
most venerable and benignant of men, was always and 
always will be " Grandfather '' to me ; so that it is im- 
possible for me to make any critical study or impartial 
analysis of him. I cannot remember when his head was 
not white, snowy white, recalling the fine scripture 
which says, " The hoary head is a crown of glory if it 
be found in the way of righteousness.'' From my 
earliest recollection his presence was portly and com- 
manding, his voice seriously and sweetly toned, his 
countenance grave and mild, his manner dignified and 
winsome, and his entire appearance that of a veritable 
patriarch, for whom we grandchildren had no sort of 
fear; only an unbounded veneration and affection. 

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets of 
whom he used to speak so freely and charmingly, were 
all very well in their distant places, standing remote and 
shadowy in the haze of a dawning history ; but Grand- 
father Pond was a real and New-Testament patriarch ; 
and, as regards beauty of holiness, not to be compared 
with anybody far or near. 

Partly because of my mother's adorable love for him, 
and because of a kind of choral worship of him in the 
whole family (of which he was quite oblivious), and 
partly because no one could know him and not perceive 
in him a very singular excellence, he stood in the niche 



VI IKTKODUCTION. 

of human perfection for my boyhood. And I verily 
believe that boyhood was far gone with me, before it 
occurred to me that God could be as good as he. 

It is safe to say that, during his long term of service 
in Bangor Seminary, no student of that institution 
failed to know and to love him. Gentle in counsels, 
gentler in corrections, almost incomprehensibly patient, 
fond of his joke, able to pour out his soul in a prayer 
or in a laugh, full of tender and wise sympathy, strong 
to bear his own burden and the burdens of others also, 
he lived before our eyes as one who, like his namesake 
of old, ^^ walked with God.^' A simpler, sincerer man 
could not be found. One would as soon have suspected 
the sunlight. It never occurred to any one to question 
his inward honesty. Of words and actions prompted 
by envy, jealousy, or kindred passions, he seemed in- 
capable. He was more than righteous : he was a good 
man. Without acerbity, severity, or any of the dis- 
agreeable qualities that taint much puritan piety, he 
moved on, upright and steadfast and serene, in wa3^s 
of pleasantness and paths of peace, driving far from 
him all thoughts and spirits of evil, not with scourges 
and anathemas, but without effort and unconsciously, 
by the simple bright-shining of his goodness. 

In nothing was the unselfish and lovely spirit of the 
man more manifest than in the manner in which he 
received the unwelcome admonitions of increasing 
infirmities, endured the inevitable deprivations of ad- 
vancing age, and gave a cordial sympathy to his 
successors and supplanters. As his term of service 
lengthened in the Theological Seminary, and as the 
necessities of the Seminary multiplied, he voluntarily 
relinquished position after position in which he had 
served with enthusiasm and success. Other men came 



INTRODUCTION. VU 

in to fill these positions, — the chair of theology, the 
chair of history. His cheerful acquiescence in the 
necessity which decreed these successive contractions 
in the circle of his service was in marked contrast with 
the resistance sometimes offered in similar cases, and 
with the resentment which makes the act of displace- 
ment a j^ainful, if not a forcible, one. 

In marked contrast with the sad behavior of those 
who linger about the scenes of their former service, only 
by their interferences, criticisms, and fault-findings to 
make their successors uncomfortable, to foment strife 
and engender discord, was his most cordial, generous, 
and paternal reception of those who came to teach and 
rule in his stead. They might come bringing into use 
text-books or methods hitherto unapproved by him ; but 
no words of criticism escaped his lips, no hint or sign 
of disapproval was given. The words he spake were 
those of brotherly kindness, and all the signs he made 
were those of a good man, who loved the Seminary, and 
the brethren in its service, and the students under their 
care, with a self-denying, self-forgetting affection. It 
was not possible for discord to exist in the Faculty, while 
he presided over them and his spirit dwelt with them. 

The theology which he received and taught, to some 
may have seemed severe ; but the Christianity of his 
life and character was attractive and incontrovertible. 
He was one of those who go about doing good, whatever 
they do, and whose influence for good goes on when they 
can no more go about. 

He was one of the few whose prayers are listened 
to with heartfelt interest. He seemed to have been 
taught to "pray in the Spirit." Out of a childlike heart 
came forth his prayers in simple, childlike phrases, 
becoming more impressive and of broader meaning as 



Vlll INTRODUCTIOK. 

tliey became more familiar. Thus, all unconsciously, 
he made for himself a beautiful liturgy, that could be 
repeated and written down by his children and pupils. 
He did not think it necessary to make a prayer each time 
he would pray, but offered the prayer once made, with 
some variations, repeatedly. 

Dr. Pond was a large-hearted man. His love for 
humanity was broad and deep ; his charity for men was 
an overflowing one. His kind thoughts of men and 
motives recall to mind the legendary saint, who, when 
put to the test if she would say a good word for the 
Devil, quietly remarked : " He must be credited with 
great industry.'' As regards injustice, or even abuse, 
toward himself, he seemed indifferent, and evil deeds did 
not stick in his memory. In short, he had that love 
which "thinketh no evil, is not easily provoked, be- 
lieveth all things, endureth all things.'' At the same 
time he w^as a zealous and ardent controversialist, and 
ever a courteous one. Having carefully formed his 
opinions, and defined his beliefs, he w^as quick to meet 
any denials or doubts thereof, or opposing errors, wdth 
bristling weapons. He believed in the impregnability 
of his theological positions, and at the same time con- 
ceived it to be his duty to battle against every move- 
ment of those who had chosen other positions. He had 
no faith in '' new departures," and little patience with the 
late departed. I think he cherished an especial con- 
tempt for German philosophy and criticism, — " German 
fog" he energetically pronounced it. He did his ut- 
most to puff and blow^ that " fog " away. He deprecated 
^^ letting down the bars," not always taking into 
account by whom, and with what assumption, the same 
"bars" had been put up. He deplored and resisted 
the changes which have taken place during the last 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

twenty-five years in the practice of the religious 
world. The change of posture from standing or kneeling 
to sitting during public prayer; the surrender of one 
service on the Sabbath ; the less rigid observance of the 
Lord's day; the disposition to allow more freedom 
in recreation and amusements, — these, and similar con- 
formities in the practical conduct of Christians, seemed 
to him indicative and productive of worldliness and 
irreligion. Loose views of inspiration, new speculations 
regarding probation, doubts concerning eternal punish- 
ment, and questionings of the expiatory nature of the 
atonement, disturbed him, and provoked him to use his 
pen against these errors. He sought and found comfort 
for his vexed and righteous soul in the great thought 
of "a reigning God," and died, as he had lived and 
labored, in faith. 

IS'ow because he was so very zealous for his views 
of divine truth and Christian duty, and because he was 
ever alert, w^ith great facility of plain speech, to utter his 
warning, and to discover what he deemed erroneous and 
noxious, it came to pass, I think, that those who knew 
him by his writings mainly and merely, knew com- 
paratively but little of what was best and most beautiful 
in him. I do not know that he was ever severe and 
caustic in his controversial writings, but he was very 
positive and unyielding, and did not exhibit great read- 
iness or capacity to appreciate the possible force of new 
suggestions and theories. In all these forthputtings 
against views, opinions, speculations, and " German 
fog'' in particular, — in all these polemic raids and 
controversial crusades, — the good man was consumed 
with a zeal for the truth, which, for the time being, over- 
laid his more generous and distinguishing character- 
istics, as the helmet's grim visor hides the face of the 
genial knight. 



X INTRODUCTION. 

When it came to men, his great heart took the heretics 
in pretty generally. One would never suspect, from 
reading his reviews of Dr. Bushnell's writings, his deep 
interest and cordial faith in that man of God. He could 
rarely make up his mind to assist in casting the 
unbeliever out of the synagogue. He was boundlessly 
tolerant and hopeful of men, and the more so as his 
years increased. It may not be easy or important to 
reconcile these diverse phases of Dr. Pond's religious 
activity. But a partial explanation of them may be 
found in the fact that his life was chiefly spent in 
studious seclusion from the world, while his mental con- 
stitution and habits of thought were such as to render him 
somewhat unappreciative of other than '^ common-sense '^ 
views and opinions. If he was not open to new con- 
victions, it was partly owing to the fact that, at one 
time of his life, he had been deeply convicted of the 
truth. In the controversy with the Unitarians, all his 
convictions had been fused into one glowing mass 
of conviction, never more to be up for questioning. 
Henceforth the truth was unconsciously identified in 
his mind with the formulation in which it had taken 
shape in the heats and under the pressures of con- 
troversial discussion. 

Moreover, between the separate and peaceful condi- 
tions of life in which the old New England divines 
thought out their systems of divinity, and the world as 
one now finds it, there is a tremendous difference. The 
ends of the earth are now brought into communication. 
In the New England village one hears the roar of London 
life. The bazaars of Cairo are not unfamiliar to him. 
The old conditions of social life are completely changed. 
Into all our quiet bays and creeks the great world has 
come rushing and foaming, bringing with its tide a 



IKTRODITCTIOK. XI 

revolution both literary and religious. A village the- 
ology no longer suffices. It is too small to meet the 
facts of the case. The systems and isms of a provincial 
theology are as quaint as the costumes of a former age. 

Dr. Pond was born, nurtured, and disciplined in the 
old New England provincialism. His remote relation 
with the world of affairs, and the environment which 
habit and education and secluded residence combined 
to make for him, rendered it difficult for him to take the 
full measure and bearing of successive innovations in 
practical and doctrinal theology. 

According to popular notion, imagination is a sort 
of decorative-art faculty, merely fictional and pictorial, 
in pretty ways frescoing the otherwise plain things of 
truth and fact. But imagination is a king faculty in 
man, without which one may have great power of 
logical reasoning and of lucid statement, but may not 
mount as on wings, nor have "visions,'^ nor either 
prophetic or inspirational genius. 

Of imagination. Dr. Pond was not in a great degree 
possessed; and this fact seems to explain, in some 
measure, why he was unable to take the largest and 
most comprehensive views of the diversified landscape 
of truth. He could not mount high enough to look afar 
off in many directions. He could not understand the 
mystic nor the transcendentalist, and was suspicious 
of the genuineness of such creatures. His pleasure 
in poetry and art, apart from religious associations there- 
with, was probably not deep or great. Dr. Bushnell's 
idea of ^^The Gospel a Gift to the Imagination,^^ 
would have seemed almost a conceit to Dr. Pond. In 
this respect he was very much like his classmate and 
friend, Dr. Joel Hawes, late of Hartford ; yes, very 
much like the late Dr. Pusey, who thought German-ism 



XU IKTRODUCTIOK. 

and neologism were the great out-standing perils of the 
Christian church. 

If one has not much imagination he will not get much 
Gospel by that inlet. Taking it in ever so large quan- 
tities by some other faculty, it will never take such 
shape and color in his conceptions of it, as in his case 
to whom it comes streaming through the glowing win- 
dows of an illuminated imagination. 

Not caring to rise much above literal interpretations, 
obvious meanings, and scholastic definitions in the 
domain of criticism and theology, Dr. Pond held by 
his beliefs and opinions somewhat traditionally and 
prosaically, but with unfaltering tenacity. He held 
by them so as to be upheld by them above all doubts 
or suspicions of their complete account of religious truth. 
He never seemed to feel the force of the objections that 
were set up and overthrown in his lectures and essays. 
The victory of his logic seemed complete, and he could 
not quite understand why the entire world was not 
convinced. Thus it was with him in respect of his 
opinions and views of truth. 

But in respect of men the case was otherwise. Never 
was there human charity sweeter or larger — human 
kindness gentler or more catholic. Few holier lives 
have been known in this age than his, — so wholly free 
from cant, from pretension, from artificial emotion — 
so sane, clear, simple, sincere, good, and loving. There 
have been greater men in our age, but few, if any, better 
men than he. 

Such men are our everlasting supports. Theologies, 
systems, speculations, have their day, and are, for the 
most part, written in water. But on " Godlike men " 
we build our trusts. Dr. Pond was '' a living epistle,'' 
"a burning and shining light," "a good man full of 



INTRODUCTION. Xlll 

the Holy Ghost." He lives and works in hundreds 
of men, who " took knowledge of him that he had been 
with Jesus." 

Of him it may fitly be said, "And Enoch walked 
WITH God : and he was not, for God took 

HIM." 

Hartford : May, 1883. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

TT^VERY man's personal history should be an 
""^ interesting one to himself. It may not be 
of special interest to others. 

Numerous biographies have been written and 
published in which the community feels little 
interest. But, as I said, every man's personal 
history should be interesting to himself^ and 
should be pondered and reviewed. He will 
learn from it his own weakness, depravity, 
short-sightedness, and ignorance, and the treach- 
ery of his heart. He will learn what are 
his most exposed points of character, what 
his easily besetting sins, and in what manner 
the temptations and dangers to which he is 
exposed may best be overcome. But especially 
will he be impressed with the great goodness 
and faithfulness and forbearance of God, and 
while he feels his own weakness, and learns 
more and more to distrust himself, he will cast 
himself on the care and providence of God 
with renewed confidence. 

A review of one's personal history will also 
lead him to admire the wonder-working provi- 
dence of God. He will see how great events 
have often turned upon slight contingencies; 



2 A MEMORIAL OF 

and liow, if the scale, which seemed almost 
evenly balanced, had turned differently from 
what it did, a new turn would have been 
given to the whole course of his life. 

In short, a review of one's personal history, if 
wisely conducted, will lead to increased penitence, 
humility, and self-distrust ; to unfeigned gratitude 
and confidence in God ; to renewed watchfulness, 
resolution, and devotion in the divine life ; and 
thus to continual growth in grace and meetness 
for Heaven. 

Impressed with such considerations, and urged 
to it by some of my dearest friends, being now 
in my usual health and vigor of body and mind, 
though at the age of seventy-two, I sit down 
this twenty-second of December, 1863, to write 
out some account of my life and personal expe- 
rience. How far it will proceed, and when it 
will end, and where, the providence of God alone 
can determine. 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 



CHAPTER I. 

PARENTAGE, EARLY LIFE, AND STUDIES. 

•• The seeds of that definite fomi which eacli individual life event- 
ually assumes will he found to lie within its early history. Usually 
a man's early life and position will be found to contain the germ, and 
to furnish the interpretation, of his future character." 

T WAS born in the town of Wrentham, Mass., 
-^ July 29, 1791. My father was of English and 
puritan descent. His name was Elijah Pond, who' 
was the son of Jacob Pond, who was the son of 
Jacob Pond, who was the son of Ephraim Pond, 
who was the son of Ephraim Pond, who was 
the son of Daniel Pond, who settled in the 
town of Dedham in 1652. My ancestors, from 
their first coming to this country, have all lived 
within a few miles of the same spot. 

My mother was Mary Smith, the eldest 
daughter of James Smith, the only son of 
Colonel John Smith, who came with his wife 
from Donegal, in Ireland, about the middle of 
the last century. They were prosperous, re- 
spectable people of Scotch-Irish descent, and 
they settled in Wrentham. My mother was an 
energetic, strong-minded woman, devoted to her 
family and eminent for piety, to whom her 
children are under the greatest obligation. My 
father and mother were not church members at 
the time of my birth, but became such a few 



4 A MEMORIAL 01^ 

years afterward. When my mother united with 
the church Mr. Cleveland preached from the 
text, " And Mary hath chosen the good part 
which sliall never be taken from her." My 
mother was a iine singer, and for years led the 
treble voices in the " singers' seats." I well 
remember the day when we children were 
baptized in the North Wrentham meeting- 
house. It was then unfinished, and the occasion 
was a solemn one to me and left an impression 
which has never been effaced. We were baptized 
by our excellent pastor » Rev. John Cleveland. 
My father became a deacon in this church, as 
were his father and grandfather before him. 
Many j^ears after, on account of greater conven- 
ience in attending meeting, our family worshiped 
Avith the church at Wrentham Centre. 

Of this old church, and the service of baptism, a sister of 
my f iither writes : — 

The meeting-house was built after the fashion of those 
dii3^s, and was literally "• set on a hill," so high, so steep, 
I never remember seeing a carriage brought to the door. 
You may be sure it required a good deal of strengtli to 
ascend these '-' courts of the Lord." Why such tremendous 
(levations were chosen in those days is a marvel. The 
building was rather small, painted light-yellow, and without 
ornament. A double door in front opened directly into the 
sanctuary. There were three aisles, and square pews like 
little pens opening directly from them. A large pew at 
the foot of the elevated pulpit was called the "- deacon's 
seat." Three galleries were built on high. In one of these 
were the *' singers' seats," and before the days when 
'' stringed instruments " might be used in the worship of the 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 5 

puritan saints, the twang of the pitch-pipe preceded the burst 
of sacred song. In the deacon's seat might be seen, from 
Sabbatli to Sabbatli, those eldLU-ly gentlemen, men of renown, 
listening to tlie preached word; or with great reverence 
rising up and stan^intj wlien pra3'er was offered to that God 
*• before whom angels bow, and archangels veil their fa^es." 
The railing of the stairs that led to the high pulpit was 
of '* carved work'' and, with the i)ulpit and its suspended 
•sounding-board,'' was painted sombre sea-green color. 
There were two porches, one on each end of the house. 
One was called the women's porch, the other the men's 
porch. In these were the stairs leading to the three 
galleries ; and the long, big bellrope was coiled in the men's 
porch, an object of great curiosity to the little b03^s, who 
longed to give it a pull. The good people worshiped in 
this house long before it was finished; and it was during 
this period that your blessed father was baptized, fiom 
a quart pewter-basin standing on a little table by Mr. 
Cleveland's armchair. After the service, I do not doubt, 
the one hundred and twenty-first hymn of the first book, 
in the old ^' "Watts and Select Hymns,'-' was sung to the tune 
of St. Martin's, as this hymn was invariably selected by Mr. 
Cleveland when a baby was baptized. I seem now to hear 
those long ago hushed voices singing : — 

"Thus, later saints, Eternal King, 
Thine ancient truth embrace, 
To Thee their infant offspring bring. 
And humbly claim Thy grace." 

I was named Enoch for my uncle Enoch Pond, 
who was graduated at Brown University in 1777, 
and Avas for many years pastor of the Congrega- 
tional church in Ashford, Conn. In my early 
years I was called a thoughtful, steady boy. I had 
a great taste for learning, and was particularly 
desirous of being at the head of my class in 



b A MEMORIAL OF 

school — a tiling which I generally accomplished. 
The schoolhouse is still standing. It is near 
my old home. It was then painted red, on the 
outside, and Avas rough enough within. About 
three years ago, I saw a Avidow lady in Augusta, 
Maine, who was nearly one hundred years old. 
Her native place was Wrentham, and she claimed 
to have taught me my letters. I think she did. 
She told me of teaching school in my native 
district, and of boarding at my father's house. 
" Mr. Pond," said she, '' had two little boys, 
Enoch and Preston. Enoch was a very good 
boy, but Preston was a great rogue." 

"Well," I said, "I suppose I am Enoch." She 
looked at me with great interest, and I looked 
upon her with feelings bordering on veneration. 
The time passed uneventfully at my native 
home, which was the home also of my grands 
parents, then living. My ancestors, on my 
father's side, were all of them farmers, who 
owned and worked their own farms, and lived 
in a frugal, industrious way, almost independent 
of the rest of the world. They received but 
little money and needed but little, living chiefly 
on the produce of their farms and the labor of 
their hands. The spinning-wheel and the hand- 
loom, in the busy hands of the mothers, wrought 
the clothing ; the fruitful fields and broad forests 
yielded food and fuel. There Avas no greed of 
wealth, nor strife for fashion. They mingled but 
little with the outside world, had few tempta- 
tions, and trained their families to the fear and 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 7 

service of the Lord. I deem it one of the 
greatest blessings of my life, that I am able to 
look back on a long line of industrious, upright, 
and truly Christian ancestors. 

We all went three miles to meeting on the 
Sabbath. 

The flood of juvenile books had not then burst 
upon the country. We fed our minds on tlie 
same intellectual food as did our parents, and it 
stimulated our thoughts and enlarged our mental 
powers. Except the three months of school in the 
summer, and the three months in winter, I worked, 
as I was able, on the farm. One of the best 
things my father ever did for me and for his 
other childi'en was to keep us constantly em- 
ployed. We never worked hard, but we had no 
idle days. Each day brought with it something 
to be done. In this way, habits of industry were 
early formed, which I have never lost. I have 
often said I would rather go to prison for six 
months, ivith my books and papers, than be 
doomed for the same length of time to do 
nothing. 

At the age of twelve I visited my uncle, the 
minister of Ashford, and spent a year with him. 
I had a great admiration for my uncle and aunt, 
and hoped to enjoy a great deal in his family ; 
and I did. All my uncle's family were skilled 
in music. I was most kindly treated by them ; 
I was a favorite with them, and was introduced 
to much young company. My manners were 
improved, but I fear my heart was not. I 



8 A MEMORIAL OF 

became idle, vain, and thoughtless. I learned to 
sing while at Ashford, but do not remember that 
I learned anything else of importance to me. 

I returned to Wrentham in the summer of 
1804, when I was thirteen years old. During 
the preceding spring, there had been a revival 
of religion in Wrentham, which was in progress 
at the time of my return. Many of my young 
friends were serious, and several had indulged a 
hope in Christ, among whom was my elder sister 
Harriet. I felt the importance of religion, sym- 
pathized with those Avho had become interested 
in it, associated with them, and erelong began 
to think I was one of their number. 

But the depravity of my heart had not been 
discovered to me ; much less had it been broken 
up. My serious impressions did not last long, 
and, for the next three years of my life, I became 
more wicked than I had ever been before. I 
attended church as usual; but was fond of gay 
company, was restive under family restraints, 
and even learned, when among my companions, 
to use profane language. My watchful father 
heard of this, and reproved me for it. His 
remarks did not offend, but grieved me, and 
were a blessing to me ; for the evil habit was 
abandoned before it became confirmed. 

I still loved learning, and improved all my 
opportunities to acquire a good English educa- 
tion. So successful was I in this pursuit, that, 
in the winter of 1807-8, when I was only six- 
teen years old, I was employed as teacher in one 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 9 

of our district schools. For the next six winters 
I continued this employment. In some winters 
I taught two schools. And here let me sa}^ a 
word as to this matter of teaching, especially as 
the schools were then conducted in country towns. 
As the schools were not graded, all the scholars 
of the district, from four years old and upward, 
came together, and must be classified by the 
teacher as best he could. 

Sometimes he would have more than a dozen 
classes, from those learning the alphabet up- 
ward, all of which must be attended to forenoon 
and afternoon. He had a large class of writers, 
for whom copies must be set and pens (goose- 
quills) made and mended. He had many studying 
arithmetic, and for these sums must be set, looked 
over, and approved ; or, when puzzled, the pupils 
must be helped over their difficulties. He had 
several classes in English grammar, whose lessons 
must be heard and explained ; and not unfre- 
quently those studying tlie higher branches of 
algebra, geometry, and Latin. And, hardest of 
all, the teacher must prevent noise and whisper- 
ing, quell disorder, and administer the govern- 
ment of tlie school ; for which he needed e3^es 
all around him. I never sat down during school 
hours, walking the room with a little switch 
under my arm, and frequently administering 
warning touches about the ears and fingers of 
the unruly rogues. I speak from long and pain- 
ful experience, and I must say that, if any poor 
creature is ever to be pitied, it is the teacher of 



10 A MEMORIAL OF 

one of these large old-fashioned district scliools. I 
succeeded in teaching to the satisfaction of my 
employers, and perhaps as well as young men 
generally, who engage in it merely as a means 
to an end ; but if ever there was a load imposed 
on a feeble mortal sufficient to press the very life 
out of him, the teaching of such a school as I 
have described was that load. Let us be thank- 
ful that there has been so much improvement in 
the books provided, the many helps to teachers, 
and in the whole method of conducting schools, 
especially in our cities and larger towns, since 
the period of which I speak. 

About six weeks before his death, my father received a 
letter from an old gentleman in Illinois, who was his pupil 
in that first school, taught by him when he was sixteen 
years old. The affectionate remembrance, and the kind 
interest, expressed by this aged pupil for his aged teacher 
touched my father deeply. 

'• Though a youthful teacher, and though these schools 
were largel}^ made up of unruly boys, such was his prowess, 
his prudence, and quick-sighted observation, that he gained 
the respect and ready obedience of the greater part of his 
pupils. He had a pleasing address and a winning playful- 
ness w^hich did not at all lower his dignity; but it was 
suited to call forth the admiration of his school. His 
scholars always progressed rapidly ; and when trouble from 
some of the overgrown evildoers threatened, without 
appearing to know their plans, he pleasantly outv/itted 
them, and, with a graceful unconsciousness, set aside and 
made impossible the execution of the plans of these ' sons 
of Belial,' leaving them angry and defeated." 

For the next two years I continued to teach 



KEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 11 

school in the winter, and Avork on the farm in 
the summer ; and it was my fatlier's plan that 
I should continue to do so, and at length become 
settled with him on the homestead. But my 
desire for learning led me to think of a liberal 
education. Besides, from my earliest years, I had 
a desire to be a minister, and a kind of a preseyit- 
iment that I should be one. I made no preten- 
sions to religion at this time, and gave no evidence 
cf possessing it; yet I had a strong desire for 
a liberal education, that I might become, if pre- 
pared for it, a minister of the gospel. Thus 
things went on witliin me and around me until 
about midsummer of 1809. It was the haying 
season, and there were several days of heav}^ 
rainy weather, when notlii)ig could be done on 
the farm. I improved this opportunity to get 
a Latin grammar, and commenced studying it 
in the Academy at Wrentham (^' Day's Acad- 
emy"), about two and a half miles from my 
father's home. My father, finding I had taken 
this decisive step, made no further objection, and 
I Avas allowed to go on in my chosen pursuit. It 
was now about six weeks to the end of the 
term ; and in this time I had mastered the Latin 
grammar and ^Esop's Fables, and commenced 
my recitations in Virgil. I allowed myself no 
vacation, but pushed forward as fast as possible, 
and before my winter school began, had finished 
Virgil and commenced on the Orations of Cicero. 
My circumstances made it necessary I should teach 
school this winter, and it proved the longest and 



12 A MEMORIAL OF 

hardest I ever taught. Still I gave my evenings 
to study, and before the school ended I had 
finished the Orations. 

It was during this winter, and while teaching 
this hard school, that I think my heart was 
changed, and I became reconciled to God. My 
pastor had been reading '•'- Faber on the Prophe- 
cies," and had preached several sermons on the 
subject. I was impressed with the idea that 
great changes were coming on the earth ; that 
naught but destruction awaited the enemies of 
God, and that it was quite time for me to take 
my stand upon the Lord's side. The burden of 
my school also oppressed me, and made me 
feel more than ever that I needed strength and 
support from on high; but I do not remember 
that I was deeply convicted or disturbed for sin. 
One evening, when the family in which I boarded 
were absent and I sat alone, unable to study, 
and absorbed in such thoughts as I have de- 
scribed, a new feeling came over me, or a new 
affection sprang up in mj soul. It was one of 
entire submission and cordial reconciliation to 
the Will of Grod. I rejoiced to be in his hands 
and under his government, and was willing he 
should do with me as seemed good in his sight. 

I expeiienced no high emotions of joy, but my 
habitual feeling was one of entire submission to 
the Divine Will, This was attended, of course, 
with inward peace, and this peace was abiding. 
It has been the predominant feature of my re- 
ligious exjDerience ever since. 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 13 

''Yield to the Lord with simple heart, 
All that thou hast, and all thou art; 
denounce all strength but strength divine. 
And peace forever shall be thine.'' 

My practice at this time was to go to my 
schoolroom about eight o'clock in the morning, 
and make a fire, that everything might be in 
readiness when the scholars came. After build- 
ing the fire, I usually had about half an hour 
by myself. I well remember how pleasantly I 
emploj^ed this little season in reading the Scrip- 
tures, meditation, and prayer. I read over the 
fourteenth chapter of John till I could say it 
as well without the book as with it. " Let not 
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid ; 
ye believe in God, believe also in me." '^ Peace 
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you : not 
as the world givetli, give I unto you." I felt at 
the time that this precious promise was verified 
unto me. Still, I did not really believe I had 
experienced a change of heart, and said nothing 
about it to any one for some months. My studies 
were the engrossing subject, and these occu})ied 
my nund almost to the exclusion of everything 
else. When my school was out, I returned to 
the Academy and commenced the study of Greek. 
I soon, went through the Greek grammar, and 
then read the Greek New Testament, and a 
part of Xenophon. I also reviewed my Latin 
studies, and read a considerable part of Horace. 
In all hut the classics, I had previously fitted 
for college, and the result was, that at Com- 



14 A MEMORIAL OF 

mencement in Brown University, in September, 
1810, I was examined for admission to the Sopho- 
more class, and was received. I have often 
regretted that I went through the preparatory 
studies of college with such rapidity. To be 
sure, I acquired readily and could read Latin 
and Greek with fluency; yet my preparation 
lacked thoroughness ; and I formed the habit of 
passing over my books and studies rapidly, which 
has, in some instances, been a disadvantage to 
me. I have often Avondered, too, that my health 
did not suffer. Exchanging the active labors of 
the farm for such intense and constant applica- 
tion to study, it is a wonder that my constitution 
did not break down at once. Very often I used 
to get up in the night, pore over my Latin and 
Greek an hour or two, and then go to bed again 
and fall asleep. I can think of but one thing 
that saved me from utter prostration at this 
period. I boarded -at home, and was under the 
necessity of walking some five miles every day 
to and from the Academy. 



BEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 15 



CHAPTER 11. 

COLLEGE LIFE AND THEOLOGICAL STUDIES. 

TTPON entering college a 5^ear in advance, I 
found myself surrounded by a large class, 
the most of Avhom were mature and strong men, 
and who, I knew, had the advantage over me of 
having been there through the Freshman year. 
Still I was determined to stand up with them 
as an equal, and my past success as a student 
encouraged me to hope I should do so. 

Indeed, I have often laughed at tlie views with 
which I entered college ; at my self-conceits and 
almost utter ignorance of what was before me. 
I know not that any Sophomore ever felt as 
I did ; it was really a wonder to me what my 
teachers would find to set before me in addition 
to what I then knew, to occupy my thoughts 
for the long space of three years. It seemed 
as though in that period I should be able to 
master all the sciences, and even more. But it 
was not long before my views began to be 
sobered, and they have been growing more sober 
and moderate ever since. I have now been 
a constant and diligent student for more than 
fifty years ; and so far from traversing the whole 
circle of the sciences, I feel ashamed of know- 
ing so little of any one of them. I feel now 



16 A MEMORIAL OF 

that my work as a student has but just begun; 
and though it must soon terminate on the shores 
of time, I hope to resume it, and carry it forward 
indefinitely, in a future workl. 

To return to my college life. As I had but 
three years before me, I determined to make 
the most of them. J\\ order to do this, I resolved 
that I would not be absent, when I could avoid 
it, from college during term time. And this 
resolution I was able to carry into effect, I was 
under the necessity of teaching, during each 
winter, one school; but I taught only through 
the eight weeks of college vacation. I was re- 
solved, too, not to be absent from any college 
exercise or recitation where I was expected to 
be present. And this resolution I accomplished. 
While the names of other students were frequently 
called over for absence, or other delinquencies, 
mine was not called in a single instance. I 
formed still another plan when I entered col- 
lege, to which I adhered, and which I would 
commend to the notice of students. I resolved 
that the lesson for the time should first be mas- 
tered, and then, if leisure remained, it might be 
devoted to miscellaneous reading or writing, or 
to recreation. But, first of all, the lesson must be 
attended to, and due preparation made for the 
recitation. My college life passed rapidly and 
pleasantly away. For my classmates generally 
I had a high regard, and they manifested the 
same regard for me. For some of them I felt 
a strong affection ; and attachments were formed 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 17 

as lasting as life, — even more so ; attachments that 
reach over to another life, and will be renewed in 
heaven. 

In the winter after entering college, I made 
known my religious feelings to my pastor and 
to other Christian friends, and made a public 
profession of religion. I joined the North 
Church in Wrentham, the same in which I had 
been baptized, and continued to be a member 
of it till my settlement in the ministry. 

The thoroughness and strength of our father's religious 
convictions are shown in the relation of his experience, 
prepared for the church when ho asked to be received into 
it. The very document lies before me, the paper yellow, 
the ink faded, but the light of the Christian life there 
recorded in its dawn ^* shone brighter and brighter, till the 
perfect day.*' After recording with gratitude the blessing 
of his Christian home, and regretting the earlier years of 
life, when the instructions of parents and the strivings of 
the Holy Spirit were stubbornly resisted, my father writes 
thus : — 

In the year 1805, I returned from my uncle's 
house, in Ashford, Conn., to find new scenes in 
my native village. I found my old friends 
very solemn, and much engaged in religious 
concerns. I was disturbed ; and I was resolved, 
at any cost, to be religious too. I resolved 
to leave off evil habits and be a saint as well 
as they. Accordingly, I professed to some of 
my friends that I had a hope I was a Christian 
and a friend of Jesus. They rejoiced at the 
news, and my vain heart swelled with pride at 



18 A MEMOKIAL OF 

the thought that I was esteemed as good as 
they. I indulged these sentiments to such a 
degree, that at last I believed myself a real 
Christian, and began to talk of a profession of 
religion. But temptation taught me a lesson I 
could have learned in no other way, of the 
weakness of human strength. I no sooner found 
that, in order to sustain the character of a saint, 
I must endure the scorn and derision of the 
world, that I must take up the cross and follow 
the Redeemer, than my heart fainted. I basely 
deserted the cause I had espoused ; I was willing 
to show the world that I was ashamed of my 
religious professions, and that my serious impres- 
sions were even less permanent than the " morn- 
ing cloud and early dew." I now abandoned 
all serious thought. I commenced a career of 
sin and folly, and rejoiced in the awful liberty 
I enjoyed. Thus I lived, though not without 
some severe compunctions of conscience, till the 
fall of the year 1809. At that time I tarried, 
one noon, to witness the administration of the 
Lord's Supper. After the sacrament Avas over, 
the church sang, in the tune of Brookfield, the 
first of Dr. Watts' hymns in the third book, 
'' 'T was on that dark and doleful night." It was 
to me a solemn occasion. It seemed to me as 
if God and holy angels were looking down with 
complacence on the small fraternal band who 
were sitting around the table of their Master; 
while I was shut out, and justly doomed to eternal 
destruction. I was pricked to the heart, and 



BEV. ENOCH rOND, D. D. 19 

found it extremely difficult to rid myself of my 
convictions of sinfulness and ill desert. I had, 
however, nearly succeeded in calming my mind, 
when I again was roused more effectually than 
before, by hearing a sermon preached on the 
speedy approach of the millennium, and the 
dreadful overthrow of the enemies of Christ. I 
plainly saw, if the Bible were true, there was 
nothing before me but trouble in this world, and 
everlasting destruction in the world to come. I 
was more sensible than ever before of my exceed- 
ing sinfulness. Although I perfectly hated the 
attributes and character of God, yet I was con- 
vinced I must pronounce his sentence just^ should 
he immediately condemn me to eternal despair. I 
was greatly distressed ; I knew not which way to 
fly, for on either side I could see onlj^ horror and 
woe. Thus, for a number of days, I continued 
quarreling with the Almighty, and striving to 
get myself out of his hands. One evening I was 
alone in my room. I was more than usually 
impressed with the concerns of my soul, and I 
at last resolved to give myself up to my gloomy 
reflections and no longer to strive and fight 
against them. At that moment a volition, which 
I had never before felt, arose evidently in my 
mind. I was willing to lie at the feet of the 
Saviour, and to be anything which the Almighty 
was pleased to have me. I felt my heart acqui- 
esce in his government, and I could from my 
soul say, ''Thy will be done." I was immedi- 
ately sensible of a great change in my views 



20 A MEMOKIAL OF 

and feelings, but I did not know wliether it 
would be termed conversion. As I had once 
deceived my friends in this respect, I dared not 
make any professions to them, lest I should be 
again guilty of the same sin. Thus I lived, 
generally in doubt with respect to the state of my 
soul, until the last spring. I was then especially 
favored with the light of God's countenance, and 
enabled to sing of mercy as well as judgment. I 
then, for the first time, communicated my feelings 
to m}^ Christian friends. Since that time I have 
given myself much to the examination of my own 
heart. I find I am a very sinful creature, but 1 
hope I can rely on the merits of my Redeemer. 
All the attributes of God appear beautiful and 
glorious, and I humbly think I can acquiesce in 
his dispensations. God's law appears just, and 
exactly conformable to the rule of right; and, 
although I am continually committing offences 
against it, I am sure I abhor myself for them. I 
have a great desire to espouse the cause of the 
Redeemer, and to side with him against an oppos- 
ing world, and to obey all his divine commands. 
I therefore offer myself to this church, begging 
your acceptance of me as a member of your 
Christian fraternity, and your earnest prayers for 
me, that I may rely wdioUy on the arm of Jesus 
for support ; that I may live a life of obedience to 
God; and especially that I may never be left to 
dishonor the holy religion which I now profess. 

ENOCH FOOT). 



ilEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 21 

He was propounded for admission to the church on 
January 19, 1812, and received to its communion February 
2d, of the same year. 

On my return to college, I disclosed to my 
religious friends there the step I had taken, and 
this introduced me to their "praying circle," and 
the Theological Society, from both of which I 
derived much satisfaction and improvement. In 
the discussions of the Theological Society I took 
an active part, and they proved a great advantage 
to me, not only as a theologian, but as an extem- 
poraneous speaker. During my residence in col- 
lege I met with a great deal of goodness^ and also 
with a great deal of wickedness. I saw more of 
vice in its grosser forms, intemperance, profane- 
ness, and debauchery, than ever before in my life. 
Temptations were everywhere ; but, by the grace 
of God, I was enabled to avoid them and pass 
unharmed through the ordeal. 

During my whole college life I attended the 
preaching of Rev. Thomas Williams, then a settled 
minister, pastor of the Richmond Street Church, 
Providence, R.- I. And I may say here, v/hat I 
have often said before, that from no preacliing 
I have ever listened to have I derived so much 
advantage. This was before he Avas visited by 
those fits of insanity, with which he was afiected 
in later years. He was an eccentric character at 
this time, but of sound mind. His preaching was 
instructive, clear, methodical, earnest. I com- 
menced, soon after I began to hear him, iiot 
taking notes in the church, but writing down what 



22 A MEMORIAL O^ * 

I could recollect of the sermon on my return 
home ; and I soon found I could remember nearly 
the whole sermon, and could have written it out. 
I would commend this method to the young as the 
best. The taking of notes at the time of delivery, 
and trusting to them, seems rather to weaken and 
injure the memory. If scholars begin early to 
trust to their memories, they will find them grow 
more and more retentive. To return to my old 
friend and pastor Mr. Williams. He was a special 
friend of Dr. Emmons. Their meetings were 
frequent and intimate. Dr. Emmons requested 
Mr. Williams to preach his funeral sermon, if he 
should outlive him. He gave his pledge that 
he would do so, and after preparing the sermon, 
at the request of Dr. Emmons, he read it to him. 
Mr. Williams had no ability or taste for worldly 
matters. He was generally in want ; and left his 
family, I suppose, chiefly to the care of his ex- 
cellent wife. His native talents were of a high 
order : a clear and vigorous understanding, a warm 
heart, a fine flow of natural sensibility pouring 
itself forth in fluent speech, and often in sparkling 
wit and humor. His numerous witticisms are 
current in all the region where he lived. He would 
have been a better minister could he have enjoyed 
in early life a Avider breadth of culture, and had 
his mind been free from a tendency to disease. 
As it is, he will be long and affectionately remem- 
bered by a large circle of religious friends, many 
of whom he has helped forward in tlie way to 
heaven by his counsels. 



REV. EKOCH POND, D. D. 23 

My college life passed rapidly away ; so rapidly 
that, before we were aware of it, our Senior year 
was drawing to a close, and preparations making 
for the final examinations and the exercises of 
Commencement. A part was assigned to me, 
which I did not expect, and which, at the time, 
I did not think I deserved; and I think so still. 
It devolved on me to deliver the valedictory 
address. My classmates, so far as I know, were 
quite satisfied with the assignment, but I always 
felt that this part should have been given to one 
who had the salutatory addresses — my classmate 
Hawes, now the venerable Dr. Joel Hawes, of 
Hartford, Conn. A warm friendship continued 
betw^een this classmate and myself to the end of 
his long life. We frequently exchanged visits. 
His heart Avas full of Christian kindness. The 
loss of his children gave a peculiar pathos to his 
last days. He died, greatly lamented in connec- 
tion with his first church and settlement, in Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

When the exercises of Commencement were 
over, I returned to my father's house. It was no 
longer a question with me whether I should study 
divinity and attempt to become a minister of the 
Gospel; but it became a very serious question: 
" Where shall my professional studies be prose- 
cuted?" The Seminary at Andover had then 
(1813) been several years in operation, and there 
were many reasons why I should go there to pur- 
sue my studies. But I was in a hurry to get into 
the ministry, and, also, my health had been some- 



24 A MEMORIAL OF 

what impaired by college life. Add to this, that 
Dr. Emmons, of Franklin, Mass., lived but a few 
miles from my father's house ; that his reputation 
as a theological teacher was, in all that section of 
country, pre-eminent ; that I had known him from 
childhood, had often heard him preach, and re- 
garded him with the highest veneration. My 
family friends all advised me to resort to him, and 
I concluded to put myself under his instructions. 

This question was virtually settled, and I had 
actually commenced my theological studies before 
I graduated at Providence. I have been asked 
whether I have not since regretted that I did not 
take a full course at Andover. My answer has 
been that, so far as theology is concerned, I have 
seen no occasion of regret. As a teacher of the- 
ology Dr. Emmons had no superior in the country. 
Though I had studied Hebrew in college, I have 
felt the need of the training I should have had in 
Andover in sacred literature, homiletics, and eccle- 
siastical history. I have no doubt I should have 
made a more acceptable preacher, especially in the 
earlier part of my ministry, if I had received 
more instruction in these important branches. 

Dr. Emmons's method of instruction was that 
adopted by all the old teachers previous to the 
establishment of theological seminaries. He de- 
livered no lectures, properly so called, but fur- 
nished his pupils with a long list of subjects, and 
the books to be consulted under each subject, and 
required them to read, reflect, and prepare essays 
on the several subjects, to be read before him. 



REV. ENOCH POND, B. D. 25 

He was not accustomed to favor us with his 
opinions before we had written on the doctrines 
to be examined, preferring we should exercise our 
own thoughts upon them, and investigate them 
thoroughly and independently. But when the 
time for reading came, he was very free in his 
criticisms and remarks. The discussions which 
took place in connection with the reading of these 
essays were always interesting and sometimes 
considerably protracted. This course of instruc- 
tion was admirably adapted to put a young man 
on his own resources, and, if he had anything in 
him, to draw it out. The planning and preparing, 
of essays which were to pass the ordeal of Dr. 
Emmons's criticism was a formidable affair, which 
no one would be willing to pass lightly over. And 
then this course of reading, thinking, writing, 
and discussing upon a long train of connected 
subjects — subjects involving questions of great 
difficulty and importance — was adapted, more 
than almost anything beside, to stir and quicken 
the soul. Under such a process the mind was not 
merely stored and furnished, but trained and dis- 
ciplined, and prepared, in the best manner, for 
future effort and usefulness. Dr. Emmons had 
a peculiar faculty for attaching his students to 
himself personally. They not only revered and 
honored him, but loved him. He had also the 
power of imbuing them with his own sentiments, 
and of working out of them everything of an 
opposite tendency ; and all this without any 
artifice or force except the force of his invincible 



26 A MEMORIAL OF 

logic. The pupils of Dr. Emmons were so much 
attracted to him that in many cases they tried to 
imitate him, and, not unfrequently, to their own 
hurt. I know that I fell into this habit of 
imitating my instructor, not only as to style and 
manner and structure of sermons, but in the 
manner of delivery, and it was a long time before 
I could be rid of it; perhaps to this day I am 
infected with it. 

Dr. Emmons died September 23, 1840, in the 
ninety-sixth year of his age, and in the sixty-eighth 
year of his ministry in Franklin. He retired from 
the labors of the pulpit in 1827, declaring his " de- 
termination to retire while he had sense enough 
to do it." He continued to instruct in theology 
till too feeble and infirm from age. The whole 
number of young ministers under his instruction 
was eighty-six. But upon many more minds he 
has left his theological likeness, and will claim 
such as his spiritual children when we meet in our 
Father's home above. 

While under the instruction of Dr. Emmons, 
I resided and studied at my father's house, and 
rode over to see the Doctor and read my essays 
to him about once a week, taking for it a whole 
day. This arrangement, though attended with 
some inconveniences, was, on the whole, a benefit 
to me. It furnished me with a degree of relaxa- 
tion and exercise, which I greatly needed, and 
which I should not otherwise have taken; for, 
although my health admonished me that I was 
driving too fast, I was not at all inclined to relax 



REV. ENOCH POKD, D. D. 27 

mj diligence. I went through Dr. Emmons's 
course of theological instruction in less than a 
year, besides keeping a school ten weeks in the 
winter, and was prepared for license in June, 1814. 
At the recommendation of my instructor, I was 
examined for the ministry by the Mendon Asso- 
ciation, at the house of Rev. Mr. Holman, of 
Douglas, and was commended by them, in the 
usual form, as a candidate for the Gospel ministry, 
June 14, 1814. 



28 A MEMORIAL OF 



CHAPTER III. 

PREACHING AS A CANDIDATE. — SETTLEMENT 
AND MARRIAGE. 

npHE next Sabbath after my license I preached 
my first sermon, in Franklin, in the pulpit 
of Dr. Emmons. Happily, the doctor was absent 
on a journey. As I had scarcely ever in my life 
seen the inside of a pulpit, and never taken charge 
of a religious meeting of any kind, my situation 
at first was awkward enough. I found myself face 
to face with Dr. Emmons's great congregation, 
every one of whom was a critic in pulpit per- 
formances, as well as in theology, and the most 
of whom had come, no doubt, for the purpose of 
criticising the new preacher. I got through the 
day as well as I expected, and heard no complaint 
of my performance afterward. 

I was next employed to preach four Sabbaths in 
West Medway, in the pulpit since that time so ably 
occupied for almost half a century by Dr. Jacob 
Ide. This engagement finished, I was requested 
to preach in my own church in North Wrentham, 
the venerable pastor of which, Rev. John Cleve- 
land, was now prostrated with his last sickness. 
I preached here one Sabbath, and then my flagging 
strength gave out. My health had been gradually 
failing for some time ; my digestion was dis- 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 29 

ordered, my nervous system enfeebled, and I 
could do no more. I was prostrated by a slow 
typhus fever, which confined me to the house, 
and most of the time to the bed, for two months. 
I was sick at my father's house, but my chief 
nurse was the young lady who was soon to become 
my Avife — Miss Wealthy Hawes, daughter of Mr. 
William Hawes, of North Wrentham. We had 
been acquainted almost from childhood, had be- 
come attached to each other, and, without any 
formal betrothal or engagement, had felt, I sup- 
pose, for years that neither of us could marry any 
one else. My mother had the care and charge of 
her large family ; my elder sister was married ; 
and Miss Hawes was sent for to come and help in 
the care of me. She came, and was a ministering 
angel to me in all my illness. But for her watch- 
ful care and kindness I might not have lived. 
When I had recovered sufficiently to take the 
journey which was recommended as necessary for 
my restoration, it was thought indispensable that 
she should accompany me. I could not go alone ; 
no one could take care of me as she could ; and, if 
she went, she must go as my wife. We were 
accordingly married, and commenced our journej'^ 
together, to visit her uncle, the late Hon. David 
Daggett, of New Haven, Conn. We made the 
journey by easy stages, with our own horse and 
carriage. It and the visit were successfully 
accomplished, and resulted in my entire recovery 
to health and strength. This fit of severe and 
long-continued sickness proved of great advantage 



30 A MEMORIAL OF 

to me in tlie end. The fever seemed to burn out 
and renovate my previously shattered constitution. 
Previous to it I had frequent sick headaches, but 
since I have hardly known what headache is. 
Previously, I was a nervous and fidgetty young 
man, often troubled and unable to sleep ; but from 
the time of my recovery these annoying ailments 
have entirely passed away. I have often said that 
fever was worth to me all it cost, and I have known 
many instances in which a fever in early life was 
followed by like results. In the autumn of 1814 
I had sufficiently recovered to think of preaching 
again, and an invitation awaited me to visit Ward 
(now Auburn), a small town in Worcester County, 
lying between Worcester and Oxford. I found 
here a small but attached people. They loved me 
and I loved them; and, after preaching for them 
several weeks, they gave me an unanimous call to 
become their pastor. I took the matter into 
serious consideration. I had no doubt but by 
longer w^aiting I might secure a larger and more 
inviting field of labor. But here I found an open 
door; here was work to be done, and perhaps as 
much work as I, in my enfeebled condition, should 
be able to accomplish. The salary proposed was 
not large, but it was liberal, considering the ability 
of the people, and I concluded to cast in my lot 
with them. I accepted the call, and though my 
ordination did not take place till the March fol- 
lowing (1815), I removed with my Avife to Ward, 
and we entered together on what we thought 
would be the work of our lives. 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 31 

Thus my father went out from the home of his parents 
with the paternal blessing resting upon him. But his early 
home was very dear to him. Every year he went up to 
refresli himself in the scenes of his youth, bringing his 
offering to the home altar. For his coming the father and 
mother, brothers and sisters, watched, and felt a reflected 
glory in his honors. The favorite viands, the fairest fruit, 
the seat of honor, the quiet gu-sr-chamber, were prepared 
by the loving mother when '' Enoch was coming/' After 
the death of his father, in 1845, and his mother, in 1849, 
father wxnt up less frequently. His last visit was in 1879. 
He felt it would be his last. The valley of the homestead 
was a good deal changed. Two brothers and a sister wxre 
dead, and their families grown up and scattered. One 
brother, my uncle Lucas Pond, was feeble in body and in 
mind, but the two brothers rode together hour after hour, 
revisiting the haunts of their youth. Every familiar spot 
had its associations ; and of the places and people so many 
stories were told, so many jokes revived, so many " char- 
acters -' brought back to act again upon the stage of life, 
that one, who sat listening in the back-seat of the can iage, 
felt she was reading a new^ chapter in the '" Stories of Old- 
Town Folks." 

Franklin, the scene of father's theological straggles 
under Dr. Emmons, was visited. The road he so often 
traveled then, had hardly lost a stone. North Wrentham, 
to whose elevated meeting-house the brothers had climbed 
ever}^ Sunday of their youth ; Medway, where Dr. Ide and 
his wife still lived; Wrentham village, w^here "Day's 
Academy" yet remained, and the family bmying-place, 
where six generations of our family are represented, were 
all revisited at this time. 

^' Pondville is a sweet spot," father said to me, as the visit 
drew to a close. '^ I have gone over everj^ step of the farm 
hundreds of times ; I know all the stones in the old walls, 
for I helped to lay them. But nothing seems more natural 
than the old Pearmain trees. There were nine set out bv 



32 A MEMORIAL OF 

my grandfather, when he was a young man, at least one 
hundred and forty-three years ago; and they still bring 
forth fruit in old age. I love the spot, but I shall never 
come again." 

For my father's grandchildren, who know very little of 
their pious ancestry, I beg leave to copy from a *' Manuscript 
of Reminiscences," preserved by an aunt who spent with 
them the last fifty years of their lives : — 

Deacon Elijah Pond and his wife were converted in the early 
part of their married life, and, like Zacharias and Elizabeth 
'^ they walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
Lord blameless." The father and mother of Deacon Pond, 
and the mother of Mrs. Pond (who lived to be nearly a 
hundred years old), w^ere in their declining years inmates of 
their family and were ever treated with respect, tenderness, 
and affection. And well was the faithfulness of these 
children to their parents repaid. Deacon Pond lived on the 
homestead, in the quiet pursuit of agriculture. He was 
puritan by descent, and puritan in practice. He was a 
strictly honest man. He was not poor and he had no 
ambition to be rich. 

In dealing with others j he seemed to consult their interest 
as much as his own. He was faithful in all the relations of 
life. He trained up his large family, five sons and two 
daughters, for positions of usefulness and honor. They all, 
with their children and children's children did him honor ^ 
and '*his days were long in the land." As a son, a father, 
a neighbor, he was kind and helpful. The poor, sick, and 
friendless ever found in him a friend, and often they wxre 
taken into his household and cherished as those of his own 
family. In his religious character he was even and uniform 
in the discharge of his Christian duties. Naturally a tiuiid 
man, his voice was never heard in the prayer-meeting or 
public assembly, but for more than fifty years the Bible was 
read and prayer offered morning and evening in the family. 
The Sabbath was observed with great care and strictness by 
his whole household. He read the Bible several times a 



Ki:V. ENOCH POND, D. D. 33 

day, sitting down to read it, as if hungry for the word; 
going through the Bible in course, once in three months. 
His '• closet •' was in the attic of his house, and there, in the 
selfsame spot, he knelt for more than lialf a centurj^ at the 
dawn of each morning. On the morning of his death he 
climbed those two flights of stairs and descended in perfect 
safety, nor can we doubt that the '* angels had charge 
concerning him, and in their hands they did bear him up." 
In February, 1845, Mr^. Pond w^as visited with a severe sick- 
ness which we all supposed would be her last. Deacon Pond 
murmured not, but the sorrow of his heart was written on 
his countenance. On Saturday morning he rose as usual, 
wxnt through all the round of accustomed duty; toward 
noon he complained of severe pain, and, as the usual 
remedies failed, we were preparing to send for a physician, 
when, as he was walking the room where Mrs. Pontl was 
sick, he fell dead in a moment. Our dear mother asked, 
'' Has pa fainted? " We told her, '' Father is dead ! "* She 
lifted up her hands and exclaimed, '• It is the doing of 
Infinite Wisdom." Not another word w\^s spoken, and she 
was the only calm person in the room. 

We kept our father's body nearly a week, thinking every 
hour our mother must join him in death. At the last of the 
week the doctor saw a change in her for the better, and 
gave us hope (f recovery for her. After father was 
dressed for the grave, and laid in the coflin, she desired to 
have him brought to her bedside. Her sons suppoitedher 
in their arms while she gazed on the husband of her long 
life, and in a whisper repeated the lines : — 

'* To mourn and to suffer is mine, 
While bound in a prison I breathe, 
And still for deliverance I pine, 
, And press to the issues of death. 

•* What now with my tears I bedew, 
O, shall I not shortly become? 
My spirit created anew, 
My flesh be consigned to the tomb." 



34 A MEMORIAL OF 

In a few days she began to amend; she gained rapidly, 
and remained four j^ears longer to cheer us. 

She was a woman of excelLait understanding, prudent, 
industrious, benevolent. Her disposition was pleasant and 
cheerful. She had been in her youth a very line singer, and, 
though she had become wholly deaf, sometimes sang softly 
to herself the songs of earlier days. In the spring of 1849, 
shci was again visited with fever, which reduced her strength 
rapidly. She had no pain, but great weariness. One day 
as I was sitting by her chair, she said, '^ Oh, I am so tired ; 
tired all the time." I said, *^ Yes, mother, but you know 
' there remaineth a rest for the people of God.' " '' Yes, yes, 
I know it ; " and then she began to talk about heaven. ^'I 
can see them all there. 1 can see Pa, and Deacon Hawes, 
and Colonel Hawes. all singin^^ and bowing before the 
throne ; " and as though she caught the melody, she began 
to sing an old anthem composed by Billings. It comprises 
nine long verses from the fifth chapter of Eeveiation. At 
one time her face beamed with pure rapture, and I verily 
thought she would sing herself away to everlasting bliss. 
JSTever did I hear such singing before. 1 felt I was listening 
to the song of the redeemed in heaven. 

In the late evening, a week from this time, she fell into a 
sweet sleep, her cheek resting on her hand from which in 
about twelve hours she awoke in heaven. ^'Mark ye tiie 
perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that 
man is peace." 

In the family cemetery two white stones mark the graves 
of this sainted pair. On one is engraved : — 

DEACON ELIJAH POND, 
'' A Good Man and a Just." 
On the other, — 

MARY POND, 
''A Mother in Israel." 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 35 



CHAPTER IV. 

MY :sriNISTRY IX WARD. 

" A genial hearth, a hospitable board, 
And a refined rusticity, belong 
To the neat mansion, where his flock among 
Their learned pastor dwells, their watchful lord; 
Though meek and patient as a sheathed sword." 

— Wordsworth. 

C\^ the first of March, 1815, I was solemnly set 
apart, by the imposition of hands, to the 
work of the ministry, and constituted pastor of 
the Congregational church and society in Ward. 
The council was large and respectable. The more 
prominent members were Kev. Dr. Austen, of 
Worcester, Dr. Crane, of Northbridge, Mr. Mills, 
of Sutton, Mr. Nelson, of Leicester, Mr. Goff, 
of Millbury, and Mr. Fiske, of Wrentham, who 
preached the sermon. They are all dead now. 
Mr. Fiske, of Wrentham (Centre), died in 1851, 
at an advanced age, while connected with the only 
church of which he was ever pastor. He was a 
wise, conservative, prudent man ; so prudent that 
Miss Hannah Adams used to say: ''If another 
question should be added to the Child's Catechism 
in the old New England Primer, ' Who was the 
most prudent man ? ' the answer would be, ' Rev. 
Mr. Fisle.' " Dr. Nelson lived till 1870, and died 
full of years. Rev. Mr. Goff died in 1846, aged 
seventy-six. 



36 A MEMORIAL OF 

When I entered on my ministerial work in 
Ward, religion was in a low, declining state. 
My predecessor, Rev. Isaac Bailey, was a worthy 
man, but very quiet, who suffered things to 
proceed in their natural course without his 
interference. None had been admitted to the 
church for years, and when I inquired for the 
church covenant and records, they could not be 
found. Weekly meetings had been neglected ; 
and when I proposed to establish a meeting for 
conference and prayer, many opposed it. They 
thought we had more meetings already than were 
fully attended, and that to have more v/ould be 
burdensome. However, their objections were 
overcome, and such a meeting established. My 
first year of labor in Ward was without visible 
results. I preached regularly on the Sabbath ; 
the people heard, but none were awakened. My 
sermons were carefully prepared and written out 
in full for some years. Many of my sermons were 
double ; that is, there were two from the same 
text : in the morning sermon setting forth the 
doctrinal truth in its order, in the afternoon 
making the practical application. This was Dr. 
Emmons's custom, and it has many advantages. 
Pressing home the one form of truth for a whole 
day can hardly fail to make an impression on the 
heart. 

In the second year of my ministry a revival 
commenced, which continued many months, and 
seemed to renovate the church. The manner in 
which this revival commenced was unusual, and I 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 37 

may call it the result of sanctified reproof. At 
the time of my settlement I found the young 
people of my flock, though kind, attentive, and 
intelligent, yet much addicted to what I regarded 
as vain and sinful amusements. Balls and dancing- 
parties were of frequent recurrence ; they were 
held at the houses of professors of religion, and 
the children of church members, and church mem- 
bers themselves, participated in them. I pretty 
early signified my disapprobation of such things, but 
without effect. It was thought well enough for 
ministers to disapprove of public balls and dances, 
and even to express their disapproval of them, 
provided they did it in a mild, respectful manner, 
and were careful not to hurt anybody. I touched 
lightly on the subject in my sermons more than 
once, but I soon found that the evil was not to be 
cured in this way. At length, after a ball in my 
own immediate neighborhood, and in the house of 
one of the principal members of my church, at 
which most of the young people of the town were 
present, I thought it iwj duty to take up the 
subject in good earnest. The time had come for 
a decisive issue. Either vice and vanity must be 
checked, or the truth must fall. After seeking 
direction from God, I prepared a whole sermon 
for the occasion. I preached, I can hardly tell 
how, though not in anger, I am sure. Yet there 
was a degree of point and pungency, not to say 
personality, about the sermon, which, at the age 
of fifty, I should hardly think it prudent to imitate. 
The Sabbath passed quietly away, and so did two 



38 A MEMORIAL OF 

or three days of the week ; still I could see that 
verj^ strong feelings had been excited, and how 
they were to be allayed, if allayed at all, was 
quite a problem. One evening, near the close of 
the week, I perceived a collection of young men 
in front of the tavern at which the ball Vv^as held, 
before which they knew I would have to pass 
before evening. The time of my passing was the 
time they had agreed upon. They ran out from 
the doors, shouted after me from the windows, 
calling me opprobrious names. I took no notice 
of their insolence, but walked quietly on my way. 
Indeed I had no feeling toward one of them but 
that of pity, and was led to pray for them with 
greater earnestness. It soon appeared that the 
malignant spirit, under whose promptings and 
influence they had acted, had in this instance quite 
overshot his mark. He had induced these young 
men to take a burden on their consciences, which 
they could not bear. They went home from this 
riot heavy-hearted and ashamed. Their conduct 
was disapproved by all the better part of the 
community. In a few days they began to come 
to me, one after another, without any concert 
among themselves, to confess the fault and ask 
forgiveness. It soon appeared that the Holy 
Spirit was operating upon their hearts. 

This was the commencement of that revival 
which spread throughout the town, and continued 
for two or three years. Probably as many as a 
hundred were converted, and nearly that number 
were added to the church. Many of these were 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 39 

heads of families. They were of all ages, from tlie 
old man of eighty to the child of twelve years. 
Most of the young men before referred to became 
Cliristians, and earnest Christians. Two or three 
"ran well for a time," and then returned to their 
old courses and became more abandoned than ever. 
This revival was a great blessing to me personally. 
It quickened and revived me. It taught me how 
to preach and pray and visit among the people, 
and converse with them upon their souls' concerns. 
I learned in this revival to preach extempore, 
which I had never dared attempt before. I found 
no lack of subjects for preaching, though I held 
meetings several times in the week. The Scrip- 
tures were remarkably opened to me, and more 
appropriate subjects were suggested than I had 
time or occasion to discuss. This revival not only 
doubled the number of members of the church, but 
it brought a new spiritual element into it, by 
which its power and influence were greatly in- 
creased. 

About five years after this first revival, the Lord 
was pleased again to visit us with a great out- 
pouring of his Spirit. The type of this second 
revival was very different from the first, showing 
that there are "diversities of operation, but the 
same spirit." It commenced suddenly and unex- 
pectedly. It passed over the town, and througli 
it, like a "rushing, mighty wind." All the con- 
versions, and they were numerous, occurred within 
six or eight weeks. Our public schools were at 
that time in session, as it was the winter season. 



40 A MEMORIAL OF 

Prayer-meetings were held in the district school- 
honses, and the scholars generally were under 
religious impressions. One of these schools was 
taught by an intelligent young man, a professed 
unbeliever of Christian truth. There had been 
a religious meeting in the schoolhouse on Thursday 
evening, attended with the ordinary degree of 
interest. On Friday I received a message from 
my friend the teacher, requesting me to come and 
visit his school. I went at once to the place, 
when a scene presented itself such as I had never 
before witnessed and can never forget. The 
ordinary business of the school Avas suspended, 
and the pupils v/ere sitting reading their Bibles 
or religious books, many of them in tears, some 
weeping aloud. I sat down in the midst of them 
and commenced conversation much after the . 
manner of a religious inquiry-meeting. 

Addressing myself to a little girl who sat near 
me, and who seemed much affected, I said: ''Mary, 
what is the matter with you? Why do you 
weep?" ''O," said she, ''I am a great sinner! 
God has been very good to me, and I have done 
nothing but forget him and sin against liim all 
my life." And this was the feeling that seemed 
to pervade the school. There was no terror or 
affright, but the prominent feeling was that of grief 
and shame for past ingratitude.- ''God has been 
very good to me, and I have forgotten and for- 
saken him; I am a great sinner; Avhat shall I do 
to be saved?" 

After conversing with the scholars, I turned 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 41 

to the teacher and asked him what he thought 
of these things ? He replied : " I am not in a situa- 
tion to speak freely with you now; but this I will 
say: I as much believe God is here by the power 
of his Spirit, as if I saw him with my bodily 
eyes." Quite a number of these scholars were 
in a few days converted, and have since proved 
by Christian lives, or by triumphant deaths, that 
their change of heart was a reality. More than 
fifty were added to the church as fruits of this 
revival. And some of them still live to testify 
to the genuineness of this work of grace. 

There was a family living near us, kind, social 
friends, who attended a Unitarian church in 
a neighboring town, and called themselves Uni- 
tarians. Becoming somewhat dissatisfied with 
the religious teachings of their Unitarian pastor, 
the mother and daughters attended our evening 
meetings, and listened with great interest to the 
warnings and invitations of the Gospel, and before 
long gave evidence of a change of heart. Now 
the boasted liberality of the father was put to 
a severe test. The wife, Mrs. H., was as good 
a Avife as she had ever been — kind, dutiful, and 
respectful. The daughters also were affectionate 
and obedient, willing to do anything for their 
honored father except sin against God. They 
thought, and their mother thought, that, as they 
must answer for themselves before the bar of God, 
they were entitled to act for themselves in the 
all-important concerns of religion. They wished 
to leave the Unitarian Society, and to worship 



42 A MEMORIAL OF 

with US. But the father peremptorily said no^ and 
forbade their attending any more of our meetings. 
He cursed religion, which he thought had brought 
all this disturbance into his family. His wife and 
daughters did not yield their convictions to his 
violence. After an absence of a few days, he came 
home one evening to find them away at the 
prayer-meeting. He was so much enraged that his 
violence knew no bounds. His heart, as he after- 
wards expressed it, seemed literally to boil over 
with hate and fury. He cursed the Orthodox, 
their church, their religion, and their God. He 
cursed his own wife and daughters. At length 
he became affrighted at himself. He had not 
thought he was capable of such dreadful wicked- 
ness. The Spirit of God enlightened him to see 
the terrible depravity of his heart. He was led, 
without seeking it, into a train of reflections, such 
as he never indulged in before; and before his 
family returned he was, though he hardly knevv^ 
it, a deeply convicted sinner. Instead of meeting 
them with reproaches, he met them with sighs and 
tears. He humbly confessed the wrong he had 
done them, and the greater injuries he had med- 
itated, asked their forgiveness, and sought an 
interest in their prayers. I was called to visit him 
almost immediately, and had the happiness of 
seeing him in a few days rejoicing in the hope 
of the Gospel. Thus his home, which had been 
for a time divided, was again united, and in purer 
and holier ties than before. 

My residence in Ward, of thirteen years, was 



REV. ENOCH l*OND, D. D. 43 

a season of mingled enjoyment and affliction. 
I had myself almost uninterrupted health. I 
enjoyed ni}^ work and was blessed in it. I had 
a kind, affectionate people, who granted us every 
indulorence we could desire of them. I was some- 
times straitened for the means of living, but my 
circumstances improved, and I acquired property 
faster in Ward than at any other equal period of 
my life. To help out my means of living in Ward, 
and to help forward the education of my children, 
I engaged in teaching, and the business became 
greater than I desired. I began by receiving 
a few scholars into my own family, that I might 
fit them for college. I received also ''rusticated" 
collegians, and the work so grew upon me, that I 
had at times some thirty or forty pupils. I fitted 
up a schoolroom in my house, and used to sit 
down there in the midst of them and hear their 
recitations, and write my sermons or attend to 
other matters connected with authorship. I 
became so accustomed to this mode of life, that I 
could write as well in my schoolroom as elsewhere. 
Surrounded by my scholars, I could break off 
from my writing to answer a question, or hear 
a recitation, or direct a pupil's thoughts, and begin 
again without any embarrassment. This habit I 
have found of some advantage to me in subsequent 
life. The constant teaching of Latin and Greek 
classics also made me more thoroughly familiar 
with them than otherwise I could have been. To 
accommodate my scholars, I prepared a new 
arrangement of Murray's English Grammar, which 



44 A MEMORIAL OF 

went through several editions, and was for a time 
much used in schools. While living in Ward, 
beside my duty as pastor and as teacher, I engaged 
pretty largely in writing for the press. In the 
year 1815, I published a sermon on the " Divinity 
of Christ," of which a second edition was published 
in 1828, in Boston. In the time of our revivals, 
1816-18, when weekly religious meetings were 
considerably multiplied, not only in Ward, but in 
Worcester and adjoining towns, Rev. Dr. Ban- 
croft, of Worcester, attacked them in a sermon, 
which was published. He based his opposition to 
them on a clause in the fourth commandment, 
" Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work," 
etc. ; in this sermon the doctor insisted that we 
are as much bound to labor six days, as we are to 
keep the seventh day ; and that it is as gross a 
violation of the fourth commandment to hold 
religious meetings on a weekday, as to perform 
secular labor on the Sabbath. I replied to the 
sermon in '' An apology for religious conference 
meetings," in 1817. The doctor published a reply 
to this, and I published a '^ Rejoinder." The 
doctor's opposition to weekly prayer and confer- 
ence meetings gained him no credit among his 
Unitarian friends. Mr. HoUis, then of Boston, is 
reported to have said, " Brother Bancroft is a fool. 
Are we obliged to work every hour of the ' six 
days ? ' These religious people have just as good 
a right to attend a conference meeting in the week, 
as I have to go to a ball." During this year I 
also examined and replied to Dr. Judson's " Letters 



IIEV. EXOCH POND, D. D. 46 

on Baptism." Of this reply two editions have 
since been published. Dr. Samuel Nott, a former 
missionary to India, had published some strictures 
on my reply to Dr. Judson ; and to these I replied 
in a published letter to Dr. Nott, in 1819. During 
all the latter part of my pastorate in Ward, we 
observed the " monthly concert of prayer for the 
conversion of the world." There was not so 
much religious intelligence diffused then as now ; 
and as I had few to help me, I endeavored to give 
interest to those meetings by delivering short 
missionary lectures. A volume of these lectures. 
was published, in 1824, under the title "- Monthly 
Concert Lectures." The volume was favorably 
received, and has since been published by the 
Massachusetts Sabbath School Society, in 1845, 
with the title " The World's Salvation." During 
my residence in Ward, I published several articles 
in the '' Monthly Christian Spectator," issued at 
New Haven, in the " Utica Christian Repository," 
in the '' Hopkinsian Magazine," and more in the 
" Christian Magazine," a monthly periodical pub- 
lished by the Mendon Association of Ministers. 
In the " Christian Magazine " I commenced a 
review of the Unitarian Tracts, and continued 
it in a series of six essays, in the fourth volume 
of the magazine. These essays were afterward 
published in pamphlet form, in Boston, and con- 
tributed not a little toward my appointment as 
editor of the "Spirit of the Pilgrims." 

A few years after my settlement in Ward, 
a controversy arose in the Congregational church 



46 A MEMORIAL OF 

in Worcester. In this controversy my feelings 
were enlisted strongly for the party standing out 
in opposition to the pastor, Rev. Mr. Goodrich, 
a valued friend also of mine. After a course of 
years, and of various persecutions and wrongs 
inflicted on the party opposed to the church 
power, a Second Congregational Church was 
formed; and in it these offending members and 
others were included. The pastor of the First 
Church was dismissed, and harmony at length 
restored. This was in 1820. This Second Church 
has proved its right to be, by its growth, pros- 
perity, and usefulness. This church was for a 
long time under the pastoral care of Rev. Dr. 
Sweetzer, lately deceased. My interest in this 
controversy brought into my circle of friends the 
family of the late Hon. Daniel Waldo. 

This family became our father's firm friends ; and during 
the time of sickness and trial, he received great comfort 
and help from them. Many were the luxuries brought to 
the sickbed of the declining wife and mother, and sub- 
stantial aid to the afflicted husband. They were rich, 
benevolent, generous. Their friendship continued till their 
death. Their regard for my father was the motive which 
led this family to give to the treasury of Bangor Seminary 
those funds which instituted the ^' Waldo Professorship." 

Of the seven children born to us in Ward, four 
lie buried there, and their mother beside them. 
Our second child, Enoch, died in 1819, nearly 
three years old. He was a dear little boy — 
sprightly, intelligent, obedient, handsome, greatly 
beloved by us all. His disease was whooping- 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 47 

cough, which terminated in quick consumption. 
He had his reason to the last, and seemed, near 
the close of his life, to be truly converted. He 
gave all the evidence of a change of heart which 
such a child could give. He seemed for several 
days to be full of love. He loved everybody he 
could think of; and spoke particularly of loving 
some persons no one else did love. I felt then, 
and I believe now, that his heart was renewed, 
and that he went directly from our embrace on 
earth, to the bosom of his Saviour in heaven. 
Never was there a more sincere mourner than I 
was then. I felt as if I could not give him up ; 
and when he was gone I thought earth could 
never more have any charms for me. Its joys 
were all faded ; its blandishments spoiled. But 
the grace of God, I trust, supported us, and time 
— that universal healer — assuaged our grief. 

My father's school commenced about 1820. I have a 
remembrance of him as a teacher, from the pen of Hon. 
A. G. Wakefield, of Bangor : — 

'' I first knew your father in the spring of 1823, when a 
youth I came from the wilds of New York to reside in the 
town where he was settled. It was a small agricultural 
town. His parish embraced the whole population, except 
a smaU Baptist Society. The people of his parish were 
intelligent, church-going people, and his meetings were 
well attended. He was iiidefatigably industrious. Besides 
attending faithfuUy to his pastoral duties, lie kept a day- 
school in a large room in the second story of his pleasantly 
located house, where he received a select number of pupils. 
They were mostly from the neighborhood and vicinity, 
boarding at home and coming to him for instnK^tion ; yet 



48 A MEMOllIAL OV 

some of them came from places more remote, and lived 
in his family. lie took a lively interest in the public 
schools of the town and did much to elevate the standard of 
education. The studies taught in his school were the 
higher branches of English education and the languages. 
He conducted my preparatory studies, and I was a member 
of his family a considerable part of the time. His good- 
nature and suavity were as marked then as in later years. 
It was not unusual in those days to ' rusticate ' a college 
student for some delinquency. During my residence in 
Ward, several students of this class were sent out to him 
by his Ahna Mater » By his good-nature he always gained 
their respect, and exercised a beneficial influence over them. 
His schoolroom was his study. There he wrote his sermons. 
He had a large armchair with a leaf or form attached to it, 
on which he laid his paper and placed his inkstand. When 
not interrupted to hear a lesson or make some explanation 
about it, his pen was in his hand, and in active operation. 
He had no school rules, nor wasted any time to govern. 
His presence inspired order, and diligence in study. He 
composed with great ease. He never seemed to stop to 
think. His thoughts were spontaneous, flowing through his 
pen as fast as he bould put them on paper. Besides dis- 
charging the varied duties of minister, pastor, and teaiher, 
Dr. Pond must have written a good deal for the press at 
that time; for he had acquired the reputation of being a 
clear, acute, and forcible writer. IS'ot long since, I heard a 
gentleman, who knew him in later life, speak of his innate 
dignity. He had the same characteristic when young. It 
was not assumed, nor the result of education; it was born 
in him. It was not an asserting or obtrusive dignity, and 
was never used for show. Xo one acquainted with him 
would ever think him conscious of it. 

'^Dr. Pond had a great deal of self-repose, the result of 
the harmonious blending and balancing of all his faculties. 
His equanimity was never disturbed. His broad, grand 
common-sense would have made him conspicuous in any of 



REV. EKOCH POND, D. D. 49 

the professions, or in any avocation he had chosen to follow. 

His influence was not confined to his church and society, 

nor to education. He took great interest in the poorer 

j class of people, that class who live 'from hand to mouth,' 

/ and no class of persons mouru'd his resignation and 

\ removal from Ward more than did these." 

In May, 1824, my wife took a severe cold, which 
fastened on her lungs, and defied the skill of 
^ physicians and the power of medicine to remove. 
While she lingered and suffered, two little children 
were taken from us by death, — an infant boy 
I Charles, and a dear little son, William Emmons 
Pond. He was like the dear boy whom we had 
lost before, and seemed given to us in his place. 
After a sickness of two weeks he died, aged two 
years. " The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
away." 

Perhaps I felt this trial less because of the 
greater one just before me. My wife lingered 
among us, in a fatal consumption, till September 
5th, of the same year, when she fell asleep. 

She had been a most faithful friend and a de- 
voted mother. She had done everything for me 
\ and mine which a wife and mother could do. She 
sought, above all things, the welfare of her famil}', 
and the heart of her husband safely trusted in lier. 
She possessed, in an uncommon degree, tenderness 
of conscience. She saw in herself no little sins. 
Every neglect of duty, everything she saw in her- 
self which was not in accordance with her high 
sense of rights was regarded as a great evil, and 
she grieved over it. Religion was ever to her 



50 A MEMORIAL OF 

a matter of great and solemn concern. To be 
a true Christian, an heir of God's great promises, 
was an all-important thing. She had such appre- 
liension of the greatness of religion, and the 
deceitfulness of the heart, and the danger of un- 
founded hopes, that she sometimes doubted the 
genuineness of her own piety, and with the utmost 
caution gave encouragement to the newly con- 
verted. She loved the cause of missions, and in 
spirit and feeling was for many years a missionary. 
She valued greatly the institutions of religion. 
She loved her Bible and made it her dailj^ studj^ 
She loved the place of public and of private 
praj^er. Those who knew her best knew that 
not a day passed during all her Christian life, 
(unless prevented by unusual circumstances), 
when she did not more than once 'enter her closet 
and lift her heart devoutly to him " who seeth in 
secret." The loss of such a companion was a great 
one to me, to my bereaved children (three of 
whom survived), and to my people. Her influence 
was always salutary and her labors abundant. 
She had labored beyond her strength, and her 
constitution had become enfeebled ; otherwise she 
might have thrown off the burden of disease which 
at length overpowered her. She died universally 
beloved and lamented, and has long been among 
the shining ones who stand before "the throne 
of God and the Lamb." 

My house was now left to me desolate. My 
wife's mother and one of her sisters were residing 
with me, and were a great comfort to me in my 



REV. EKOCH POND, D. D. 51 

affliction. They continued with me several 
months, and assisted in the care and business 
of the family. I shall always remember them 
with gratitude and love. But, as months passed 
on, I found my children needed a watchful 
mother, and I needed some one to take the place 
in my heart and life so long occupied by the loved 
one gone. I did not forget that beloved one of 
my youth, now departed; I shall never forget 
her; but my feelings and my necessities led me 
to ask of God for one to fill the vacant place 
in my home, and the Lord was pleased to direct 
me. Miss Julia Ann Maltby was then visiting 
her uncle. Rev. L. Ives Hoadley, in Worcester. 
I had met her before, and was pleased with her. 
I now renewed the acquaintance, and in time I 
offered her my heart and hand, which were 
accepted. We were married the seventeenth of 
June, 1825, and lived together most affection- 
ately and happily for thirteen years. She was the 
daughter of Lieutenant John Maltby, of North- 
ford, Conn. 

Only one of our lather's children now lives who 
remembers the life in Ward. She is his eldest child, Mrs. 
IV. A. Parker, of Belfast, Maine. She says: ''Of ni^^ 
childhood in Ward I can remember but little; the large, 
pleasant, and always well- filled house ; the aunts wlio were 
frequently with us; some of the strange sayings of the 
quaint old ministers who came on ' exchanges ' ; how Mr. 
GofFe threatened to throw the big Bible at iis from the 
pulpit, if we were not good in church ; how the young men 
at school played off jokes on us and how we retaliated. 
My love and reverence for my father was as early as I can 



52 A MEMORIAL OF 

think. My sense of safety with him. in times of fear or 
grief, my confidence in all he said and did, that it was just 
right, n(?ver failed. The second revival of religion, seven 
years after his going to Ward, I remember (though I was 
but six years old), from the fact that the prayer-meetings 
weie held in my father's large kitchen; and wiien not 
permitted to sit up 1 could hear the voices of the singers 
and the praying ones in the adjoining bedroom, where I 
lay in lu}^ trundle-bed. For want of suitable hymn-books 
for such seasons of revival, my father made some dozen or 
more manuscript hymn-books, with the tunes also. Some 
of these hymns I recall ; as, ' Stop, poor sinner, stop and 
think,' 'Ho! ye sinners, poor and wretched,* 'When with 
my mind devoutly pressed.' Perhaps twenty such hymns 
were found in these books. These hymns so impressed me, 
that I now recall them, and the tunes in which they were 
sung. These hymns and meetings awakened an interest 
that I never lost, always feeling that I ought to be a Chris- 
tian. I, too, felt the dancing mania, already referred to. A 
dancing-master came to town, and I remember asking my 
father if I could not go to the school with my playmates who 
went ; but father took me on his knee and talked with me 
about it, describing the vanity and foolishness of it. and so 
cooled my fever of excitement that to this day 1 feel the 
influence of his description and a disgust at dancing. I can 
remember only a few things before the death of my mother; 
perhaps the death of my little brother William more distinctly 
than any other. My mother sick in the bed ; my father sitting 
by the cradle of his dying boy; my aunt, who took care of 
us, walking the room nearly frantic with grief; we little 
children, amazed at our first sight of death, made up the sad 
picture. We three, Cornelia, Enoch, and I, left the village 
school, and studied with my father in his school at home. 
One Sabbath after the usual reading of the Bible together 
and father's praying with us, he told us he was going away 
for a few days and should bring home to us a new mothor. 
We found this mother tender and true. The children of 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 63 

these two mothers grew up and have lived together as 
affectionately as it is possible for children to do. There 
have been, to this day, no differences or jealousies. When 
we left Ward, we left a pleasant home and kind friends, 
whom I still remember with love and gratitude." 



64 A MEMORIAL OF 



CHAPTER V. 

LIFE AS AN EDITOR IN BOSTON. 

nV/TY school at length became a burden to me 
too heavy to be borne. I could not 
continue it without wearing myself up too fast ; 
and I hardly knew how to relinquish it. This was 
one of the circumstances which made me more 
willing to change my position. The reviews of 
the Unitarian Tracts, which I had published in 
the '' Christian Magazine," had fallen under the 
notice of certain ministers in Boston, and had been 
published by them in pamphlet form. I had also 
become interested in the " Legal rights of Congre- 
gational churches," which had been invaded by 
certain judicial decisions. I prepared an elaborate 
article on the subject, which I sent to Boston in 
the winter of 1828, just after the " Spirit of the 
Pilgrims " had been established. The article 
was published in the second and third numbers 
of the new periodical. Shortly after, I received 
a unanimous and pressing invitation to become 
the editor of this periodical. The " Spirit of the 
Pilgrims" was started, in Boston, in 1828, by 
leading Trinitarians, as an organ through which 
to carry on the controversy with the Unitarians, 
who, as was thought, had in an unfair manner 
secured possession of the high places of influence 
in the State ; of Harvard College ; of the Legis- 



KEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 66 

lature and Judiciary of the Commonwealth ; and 
of a large proportion of church property in 
Eastern Massachusetts. This controversy, which 
had already been going on for several years in the 
State, had resulted in painful separations in 
Trinitarian churches and among their ministers ; 
and troublesome questions concerning church 
property and the legal rights of churches had 
arisen. The post of editor of this periodical was 
a delicate and responsible one, and I held back 
from a position which exposed me to such vigorous 
assaults from the able defenders of the then new 
heresy ; and only the urgency and encouragement 
of Lyman Beecher, Dr. Edward Griffin, Dr. 
Wisner, Leonard Woods, and Samuel Worcester, 
prevailed. 

Dr. Lyman Beecher and Dr. James Chaplin, of Cambridge- 
port, were instructed, by the directors of the *' Spirit of the 
Pilgrims/' to invite my father to occupy the chair of editor, 
offering a sufficient salary, and assurances of influential 
support from them. In a most fraternal letter, Dr. Beocher 
pledges his own aid and that of such men as Mr. Evarts, Mr. 
Dana, Dr. Green, and Dr. Ed. Beecher. I do not find my 
father's reply, but the directors having received and read it, 
Dr. Wisner, one of their number, in a letter dated April 22, 
1828, communicates the result of their consultation. ^' First, 
we must have you at any rate. You have been educated by 
Providence for the place. Your taste is formed for it. Your 
loyalty to truth is unquestionable. Your self-control is your 
strong defence. Your quickness to see points which need 
attention fit you for the work, and you can, unmistakably, 
do more good in this station than in the one you now 
occupy, and probably more than in any to w^hich you will 



56 A MEMORIAL OF 

ever be called." To the objection that the church in Ward 
were unwilling to part with their pastor, that the event 
might divide the society, etc., Dr. Wisner replied: '" It 
is an argument in favor of a person's fitness for an 
important position, that lie has been acceptable in positions 
he has already filled. As to breaking up the church, would 
not the same objection lie against God's taking you away by 
death? And may not God as really call you away by his 
providence? And also, where is an instance of a minister's 
leaving his people from a sense of duty, and in order to do 
more for Christ, and his people being truly injured by it? 
Even when they have behaved wickedly about it, the Lord 
passes by their wickedness and makes up to them the 
sacrifice to which he has called them.'' The letter is an 
ingenious plea, and shows that what was once said of my 
father, "If he had not been a minister of the gospel, he 
might have been illustrious as a man of law,*' might also 
have been said of Dr. Benjamin Wisner. His advice as to 
the selection of members of the Ecclesiastical Council to 
be called for my father's dismissal, shows that there is wire- 
pulling in clerical, as well as in political, strategy. In the 
enthusiasm of the good doctor over the '* Spirit of the 
Pilgrims," he proves himself to be short-sighted as to the 
breadth of my father's capabilities. 

After a severe struggle, I decided it was 
my duty to accept the invitation. I removed 
from Ward, in May, and leased a house in 
Cambridgeport, where I resided with my family, 
my office, as editor, being in Boston. An arrange- 
ment was happily made by which my people 
were left without a minister but for a single 
night. The Rev. Miner G. Pratt came among 
them the day after I left, and was soon ordained 
as my successor. 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 67 

Some years before this I had been deeply 
interested in the Unitarian controversy, and 
was engaged with Drs. Moore, Wisner, Worces- 
ter, Rev. S. O. Dwight, Mr. Huntingdon, and 
others, in getting up the " Pastoral Association," 
which met annually, in Boston, in election week. 
With these noble men I was intimately ac- 
quainted, and, in my connection with the peri- 
odical of which I became the editor, I found all 
the pledges they had made of championship and 
moral support wholly met. I resided in Cam- 
bridgeport four years. I was sole editor of the 
" Spirit of the Pilgrims " for that time, and the 
first five volumes were published. The sixth 
and last volume was published after I left. Of 
the manner in which this periodical was con- 
ducted, it does not become me to speak. It has 
long been before the public, and the opinion of 
the public has long been formed and expressed 
respecting it. Suffice it to say, that for its influ- 
ence for good or evil I am mainly responsible, as 
I Avrote nearly half its pages with my own hand. 

Tlie topics discussed in some of the articles 
referred to as written for the " Spirit of the 
Pilgrims " are the following : — 

Objections to Revivals Considered. Christian Education. 
Five Letters on the Introduction and Progress of Unitarian- 
ism in IS'ew England. Rights of Congregational Churches. 
Character and Prospects of the Heathen. Work of the 
Holy Spirit. What Constitutes Infidelity? Hope of Future 
Repentance. System in Religious Charities. Unitarianisin 
in New England. Importance of a Correct Interpretation 



68 A MEMORIAL OP 

of Scripture. Errors in the Apostolic Churches. Wicked 
Men do not Understand the Motives of Good Men. Uses 
and Abuses of the Doctrine of God's Purposes. Introduction 
of Sin. Sin not a Necessary Means of the Greatest Good. 
God's Government of the Moral World. Selfishness of 
Depravity. 

These are the topics of about one sixth of the articles 
prepared by the editor for his periodical. These topics arc 
exciting discussion in the Christian world at the present 
time, and will continue to do so probably to the end. 

Many of the remaining articles are wholly controversial. 
Man}^ are reviews of religious publications. 

Dr. Samuel Harris, of New Haven, in a memorial dis- 
course, says of this magazine: ^*This jDeriodical was ably 
and vigorously conducted, and was regarded as a powerful 
agency in vindicating the truth; and it commanded the 
respect even of its opponents. Whatever power it had was 
mainly due to the editor. He contributed to it one hundred 
and thirty-nine articles." 

This controversy had not been long continued 
before Unitarians became tired of it. They 
mourned over its evils, and sighed for the return 
of that peace which had been so unhappily dis- 
turbed. It became evident, as the controversy 
continued, that Unitarians differed from us, not 
only in regard to the doctrines of the Trinity, 
and the person of Christ, but in the whole 
system of Christian doctrine, and in respect even 
to the Bible itself. Their vicAvs of the Bible 
were, that it is not a revelation ; but the record 
of a revelation ; and this record is not divinely 
inspired. It has numerous mistakes and errors, 
which require to be corrected, as in other books. 
Indeed, many Unitarians do not believe as much 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 59 

as this. The Bible is no supernatural revelation 
at all, but rests on the same foundation with 
the works of ancient sages — The Shastras, The 
Zendavesta, The Dialogues of Plato, etc. They 
have indeed no bond of union among tliemselves; 
they have fallen off from the old Unitarianism. 
As a denomination, they have broken asunder, 
and fallen from the Light into materialism, pan- 
theism, free-religionism, and infidelity. " Clouds 
without w^ater, carried about of winds ; trees 
whose fruit withereth ; without fruit, twice 
dead, plucked up by the roots." 

I was not merelj^ an editor in Boston, but also 
a preacher. The Evangelical Church in Cam- 
bridgeport had just been formed, and I supplied 
the j)ulpit for the greater part of two years, until 
they obtained a pastor. During this time there 
was one season of special religious interest, when 
many young persons were hopefully converted, 
and among them one of my own children — my 
daughter Cornelia. I was repeatedly solicited 
by this church to resign my editorial chair 
and become the pastor of the church; but 
I could not see it my duty to do so. I also 
preached in many places beside Cambridgeport, 
in the vicinity of Boston, where the orthodox 
were leaving the old societies, now become Uni- 
tarians, and forming churches by themselves. I 
ministered to other churches, when, under the 
decision of the courts, the Evangelical members 
of the churches, though they constituted the major- 
ity^ were leaving the old societies, relinquishing 



60 A MEMORIAL OF 

church property, and going forth to organize 
and build anew. This was the case in Quincy, 
Acton, Canton, Scarborough, and Sherburne. In 
Sherburne I preached the first sermon to the 
Evangelical Society, in a hall over a grocery- 
store. This was in April. Before winter they 
had organized a church, built a house of worship, 
and I was called to assist i]i the settlement of 
their first pastor. Rev. Samuel Lee. 

Among the pleasant things connected with my 
residence in Cambridgeport was the acquaintance 
formed with the clergymen of Boston and its 
vicinity ; such men as Dr. Wisner, Dr. Skinner, 
then of Pine Street Church, Dr. Edwards, then of 
Salem Street Church, Dr. Samuel Green, of. Essex 
Street, were dear and intimate friends. Especially 
I loved and admired Dr. Lyman Beecher. He was 
then in the prime of his strength and good influence 
in Boston. And he was, on the whole, the most 
remarkable man I ever knew. With all his power 
as a preacher, as a platform speaker, as a con- 
troversialist, he united the simplicity and play- 
fulness of a little child. He put on no airs of 
superiority^, and among his friends was willing to 
be guided by their counsels, and often appealed to 
them for help in practical matters ; and these last- 
mentioned traits made him the most lovable man 
I ever knew. Drs. Beecher and Wisner were 
admirably adapted to work together. The former 
was ardent, impulsive, and in danger in some cases 
of going too fast; the latter was inclined to 
suggest difficulties and, when the case required it. 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 61 

would hang on his wheels. Another acquaintance 
formed at this time, one whom I can never forget, 
was the late Jeremiah Evarts. Notwithstanding 
his then declining health and feeble body, he was 
one of the ablest men, most efficient workers, and 
wisest counsellors, I ever knew. 

The years I spent in Boston were very pleasant 
years and very busy years, ^ij whole soul was 
interested in my work. My friendships, associa- 
tions, and intellectual advantages enlarged my 
views and quickened mj^ mind. I had a degree of 
success sufficient to encourage and animate me. 
Our short residence in Cambridgeport was, on the 
whole, I trust, one of peace, prosperity, and useful- 
ness. We liad many things to attach us to the 
church, of which we became members, and to the 
large circle of friends and acquaintances in which 
we moved. All are now ffone ; but memory is 
often busy among the events of those years. Here 
we lost a sweet baby daughter by croup. Here 
two sons were born to us, William C. and Jeremiah 
Evarts, both of whom are in active service for the 
Master, — William, a pastor in California, Evarts, 
in Maine. The Unitarian controversy gradually 
subsided. The object for which the '' Spirit of 
the Pilgrims " was established had been attained, 
and I was induced to listen to invitations sent to 
me to become professor of theology in the Semi- 
nary in Bangor, Maine. 



62 A MEMORIAL OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

BANGOK AND THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 

THE first settlements in what is now the City of Bangor 
were made in 1769. The city is beautifully situated at 
the head of navigation on Penobscot River. For many years 
its growth was very slow. The earlier settlers came generally 
from Massachusetts, possessed a strong religious element, 
and were many of them members of churches in the old 
homes from which they had come out into the untried wilder- 
ness. Christian worship was begun nearly as soon as the 
first settler came; but the places of worship were very 
rude — a grove of oaks, a barn, a log hut. The mission- 
ary sent by the Christians of Massachusetts Avas always 
welcomed hy the scattered people. He attenled to their 
spiritual wants, administered baptism and the Lord's supper. 
In 1786, the first minister, Rev. Seth Noble, from Westfield, 
Mass., w^as settled, though at that time there was no 
organized church. Rev. Daniel Little, in his ''Journal of 
IVIissionary Work in the Eastern Districts," in 1786, says : 
'*The people in the '- Kenduskeag Plantation ' privately gave 
to Mr. Noble a call to the pastoral office, and, as the trouble 
and expense of gathering an ecclesiastical council was great, 
they voted that I should induct Mr. Noble into his pastoral 
office as their minister." So Mr. Noble was si ttled on 
a stipend of £100 a year, and the service took place in 
a grove of ancient oaks, where the corner of Oak and 
Washington Streets now is. Mr. Noble preached the 
sermon, and Mr. Little did all the rest. This was the 
beginning of the first church in Bangor. Mr. Noble proved 
to be an ignoble character, and intemperate even in those 
days; but he rendered the young city soi»e valuable 
service. He at least has the credit of saving Bangor 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 63 

from the burden of bearing always the name of Sunhury, 
The beginning of the nineteenth century saw a perceptible 
start in the settlement towards growth and progress. 
Lands in the eastern part of Maine rose in value, and 
speculation became a fever. Streets were laid out, buildings 
went up, and immigration increased. 

As Barigor Seminary has been, for fifty years and to the 
end of life, the object of my father's care and interest, the 
subject of his prayers and centre of his labors, it ma}^ be 
well to turn back to the pages of its early history to see how 
it grew out of the*necessity f or it; how it struggled through 
the first year of its existence ; how it has gradually become 
a centre of spiritual light to Maine and the adjacent 
provinces. 1 find materials for this sketch in an historical 
address delivered by my father, in 1870, on the fiftieth 
anniversary of the Seminary. 

As early as the year 1810, the need of well-instructed 
religious teachers for the rapidly increasing population 
of the eastern settlements had been felt. In that year 
an association was formed in Portland, Maine, called 
the " Society for Promoting Theological Education/^ 
and was one of the first educational societies in the 
country. 

This Society, after extended correspondence with dis- 
tinguished clergymen in this country and in England, 
appointed a committee, and instructed them to establish, 
as speedily as possible, the proposed Theological Sem- 
inary. Through the efforts of this committee a charter 
was obtained in 1814, from the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts (of w^hich State Maine was then a district), 
designating certain individuals as trustees of the Maine 
Charity School; for this was then, and is now, the title 
of the institution. The first meeting of these trustees 
was held in Montville, Waldo County, when Eev. 
Edward Payson, of Portland, was chosen President; 



64 A MEMORIAL OF 

Samuel C. Button, of Bangor, Treasurer. The trustees 
decided not to locate tlie proposed Theological Seminary 
in the western and more thickly settled part of the 
State, but determined, in military phrase, to "march 
to the front," and plant it in the midst of those spiritual 
wastes which it was intended to build up. The Sem- 
inary was opened, in Hampden, in 1816. It was 
founded on the plan of the English dissenting colleges. 
The course of study was literary and classical, as well 
as theological, and occupied four y^ars. Professors 
Wines, Aslimun, and Cheever were the first instructors. 
It does not appear that the Seminary ever owned any 
buildings or land in Hampden. The students boarded 
and studied in private families, and had recitations and 
other exercises in some part of the academy building. 

In 1819, a lot of land w^as given to the Seminary 
by the late Isaac Davenport, Esq., of Milton, Mass. 
The lot contained about seven acres, and was favorably 
situated in the town of Bangor ; but it was then pretty 
much in a state of nature and probably of little value. 
This land, green and well graded, covered with trees, 
gardens, walks, and Seminary buildings, is now of very 
great value. In the autumn of this year the Seminary 
was removed from Hampden to Bangor. In the same 
year the three instructors. Wines, Ashmun, and Cheever, 
resigned, and were no longer connected with the school. 

In 1820, Rev.' John Smitli was inaugurated as pro- 
fessor of theology; E.ev. Bancroft Fowler, of classical 
literature. 

The institution had in Bangor its valuable lot of 
land, but no buildings of any kind until 1827, when one 
large house, serving for recitation-rooms, library, board- 
ing-house, and dormitories, was erected on the south side 
of the lot, and a smaller one, called a chapel, occupied 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 65 

by the preparatory school. Professor Fowler was suc- 
ceeded in 1827 by Eev. George E. Adams. The late 
Dr. Smith continued to occupy the chair of theology till 
his death in 1831. 

It is painful to read the records of the trustees during 
these years, and learn to what straits they were often 
reduced. In December of 1830, the trustees voted, that 
"unless means for the future support of the Seminary 
be obtained before September of the following 3'ear, 
it will be necessary to suspend instruction in the 
theological department until such means be secured.'^ 
Nevertheless, theological instruction was not suspended. 
The course was continued till the decease of Dr. Smith, 
and up to that time more than sixty 3^oung men liave 
received diplomas. The greater part of these had 
finished their course. The dying Professor Smith's 
anxiety on leaving the world was only for his beloved 
Seminary, and his last intelligible words were a prayer 
in its behalf : " God bless the Seminary ; Thou wilt bless 
it and keep it, for I give it up to Thee. I can do no 
more for it; Thou canst do all things." The death 
of Dr. Smith, in the spring of 1831, left the Seminary 
without an instructor, and for several months there was 
(aside from the classical school) no instruction given. 
In the autumn of 1831, Rev. Alvan Bond, of Sturbridge, 
Mass., was elected professor of sacred literature; and 
before winter he commenced giving instruction in that 
department. In the following spring, Rev. Enocli Pond, 
of Boston, was elected professor of theology. 

The letter of invitation was written by Rev. S. L. 
Pomroy, Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the '' Maine 
Charity School." By this letter the choice of the trustees 
is made known, its acceptance urged, and definite proposals 
made. Mr. Pomroy assures Mr. Pond that *'he will not 



66 A MEMORIAL OF 

fiod things in working order." '' Indeed," he writes, 
** ahiiost everything is to be done, and the responsible task 
will devolve on 3'ou, and your associate, of moulding things 
into right shape and giving them a right direction." The 
salary offered was §800 a year, and promise given of a house 
'' as soon as circumstances would permit." The importance 
of this theological school to Maine is set forth as very 
great. A determination on the part of the trustees to make 
it a permanent institution is declared, and strengthened by 
the assurance of the awakening of the religious community 
in Maine to its importance. The only endowment was 
§10,000 for the theological professorship. 

In a second letter Mr. Pomroy expresses the fears of 
some of the trustees, as to Mr. Pond's soundness on some 
points of theological belief, at that time much discussed by 
leading theologians; but concludes, if he will come, to 
waive objections to '-'• New Divinity," etc. Bangor, at that 
time, was the headquarters of the speculation in eastern 
lands, and was rapidly filling up and overflowing with 
people. Mr. Pomroy whites : '' Our village is now inundated 
with inhabitants, and it is difficult to procure a house for 
love or money. The State seems destined to contain a 
mighty mass of people, and the providence of God seems 
to point out this institution as a permanent means of moral 
and religious influence, at least within our own bounds." 

In his reply to Mr. Pomroy* s letters Mr. Pond says : — 
'' The case lias been to me an exceedingly trying one. 
My duties, though arduous, are adapted to my taste 
and habits: my present situation agreeable. I am 
surrounded with literary and Christian friends, and 
with books, and my means of living are much better 
than those proposed by jouv board. 

^^On the other hand I can say I have felt a deep 
interest in your Seminary from its establishment; I 
seem to see an increasing importance attached, to it, 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 67 

growing out of recent developments in Maine. I have 
been acquainted with your efforts and discouragements 
in endeavoring to procure a successor to Dr. Smith, and 
I have sometimes felt a strong inclination, and, I think, 
a sense of duty (unworthy and incom23etent as I feel 
myself to be), to go down to Bangor and make the trial. 
My friends here have been divided in opinion respecting 
the course I ought to take ; some very strong against 
my removal, others seeming to be convinced in con- 
science that I ought to accede to your proposal; so 
that in settling my mind I get little or no assistance 
from them. I have regarded my case as emphatically 
one of those referred to by the Apostle James when he 
says: ^If any man lack icisdovi, let him ask of God.' 
Under these impressions I have endeavored again and 
again to commit the whole case to my Heavenly Father, 
and to seek light and direction from him. I have said, 
and can say with entire sincerity (if I am not deceived) : 
' Dispose of me as thou wilt ; keep me here or send me 
there ; place me in that position where I can do most 
for thy cause and the advancement of the Redeemer's 
kingdom. If thy Spirit and presence go not with me, 
take me not hence.' At length my mind has come 
to a conclusion, in w^hich it seems at present to rest. 
I have made arrangements to leave the ' Spirit of the 
Pilgrims ' in such hands that I think it may be suc- 
cessfully continued, and have concluded, if certain 
conditions are met by your board, to accept the appoint- 
ment with which your trustees have honored me. If 
these conditions are complied with, you may announce 
my acceptance at any time or in any manner ; as quietly 
as possible will be the most agreeable to me." 



68 A MEMORIAL OF 



CHAPTER VII. 

MY RESIDENCE IN BANGOR IN CONNECTION 
WITH THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 

T" CAME to Bangor from Boston in a schooner, 
that being the only water commnnication ; 
while the journey by land would have been by 
stage-coach, wearisome and expensive. I came 
with my wife and six children in the month of 
June, 1832. Our voyage was pleasant and short. 
We arrived on a Sabbath afternoon, and were 
received as boarders by Mr. William Davenport, 
who lived in a large two-story yellow house nearly 
opposite to the present location of the ''Bangor 
House." We had never seen Bangor before ; and 
it was well perhaps that we had not. I found 
the Theological Seminary in a much weaker and 
more dilapidated state than I had expected. The 
Seminary grounds were here ; and on them one 
solitary three-story building, containing all the 
rooms which the institution offered for the accom- 
modation of students, and public uses of the 
school. There were seven students here : five 
in the junior, two in the senior class. The 
senior class was soon to graduate. The two 
members of it were Wooster Parker and Cyril 
Pearl. Professor Alvan Bond was here with 
his family. The library consisted of a few hun- 
dred books, many of which needed rebinding 



HEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 69 

before they could be used. The Seminary had 
no funds, and was considerably in debt. For 
the payment of the professors' salaries, eight 
hundred dollars each, the Seminary depended on 
the contributions of the churches and benevolent 
individuals. But the Seminary had a good char- 
ter ; it was well located ; and the late Mrs. Phebe 
Lord, of Kennebunkport, Maine, — a name never 
to be spoken but with honor, — had just given one 
thousand dollars for the library. As I was here, 
with my family and household goods, I concluded 
I would not turn about and go back. Brother 
Bond and I hired a double house in Ohio Street, 
where he lived until he left Bangor, and we 
resided till 1837. 

From this period the story of my life will be 
continued under several divisions. First, my con- 
nection with the Seminary. 

About two weeks after my arrival in Bangor, 
the General Conference of our churches met in 
Wiscasset, and I went in company with Ilev. 
Mr. Pomroy to attend the meeting. It was the 
first time I met the ministers and churches of 
Maine. In 1827, the trustees invited the Con- 
ference to send a committee, year by year, to 
visit the institution, to look into its affairs, and 
to make report as to its condition and prospects. 

The invitation was accepted, and this arrange- 
ment connects the Seminary with the churches, 
and brings it under their supervision. If any- 
thing wrong should be done at the Seminary, or 
any error or irregularity allowed, the case at 



70 A MEMORIAL OF 

once would be reported to the churclies, where 
it might be corrected. At the Conference of 1832, 
the case of the Seminary was taken up, and it 
was voted to raise the sum of $30,000, in four 
annual payments, to relieve its wants. I was 
greatly encouraged by this vote, and we com- 
menced at once the getting up of the subscrip- 
tion. The principal part of the labor of raising 
the subscription devolved on me. The sum was 
all subscribed and most of it paid, though not in 
the precise manner at first contemplated. As our 
new subscription became available, it was resolved 
to erect a new Seminary building, and the large 
brick dormitory was put up, and the northern 
half finished in 1834. 

In making up this subscription I went over the 
State and visited many of the churches ; preached 
and conversed, and wrote hundreds of letters. 
In this effort to raise money, and in the many 
subsequent labors of this kind, I never consid- 
ered myself in the light of a beggar^ nor allowed 
in myself any personal feelings of gratification, 
disappointment, or pique. As earnestly as I 
could, I urged the case in its true light, upon 
those I addressed, and left results with God ; and 
the responsibility of giving or withholding, with 
the consciences of my hearers. I can say, without 
boasting, that I have been the means of securing 
at least the larger half of the funds now in the 
Seminary treasury. At the beginning of the year 
1834, we had a class of eight enter, which in- 
creased our number to sixteen. These all had 



BEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 71 

rooms in the new building. In this building also 
were recitation-rooms, library, and a room fitted 
up for the classical school, and used also as a 
chapel ; and the same year the library Avas en- 
riched by more than a thousand volumes. Thus 
the prosperity, which has given to Bangor Theo- 
logical Seminary adequate buildings, a good 
library, and a considerable part of the needed 
funds for the support of an able Faculty, was 
planned and well begun. The accomplishment 
has been the great labor of my best years. 

Dr. Cj^rus Hamlin communicates this letter, giving his 
recollections of our father, as he was at this time : — 

'' I first saw Dr. Pond at Bowdoin College in the year 1832, 
the same in which he entered on his work in the Seminary 
in Bangor. He was then forty-one years old ; a man well 
built, with a countenance of mingled mildness and firmness, 
intelligent, thoughtful, and in his whole physique and 
bearing answering well to the reputation which his able 
editorship of the ' Spirit of the Pilgrims ' had already 
given him. He preached for Dr. Adams morning, after- 
noon, and evening, of the Sabbath, to a full house. He 
attracted the attention of the students to an anusual degree. 
His sermons were clear, cogent, and practical. He left an 
impression that the Congregational interest in Maine had 
received a most valuable accession to its strength. In the 
religious revival of 1833-34, he visited Brunswick again to 
assist Dr. Adams, and his word w^as with power. His 
eflacient weapon was the ' Sword of the Spirit, the Word of 
God.' This he wielded with irresistible force and solemmty. 
He left the hearer no chance to reply or object, except by 
coming in conflict with the Word of God. It was the 
Biblical characteristic of his preaching that drew students 
to him. His sermons were so well reasoned out of the 
Bible, that they carried the vreight and authority of 'Divine 



72 A MEMORIAL Oi' 

truth with them. They were never based on one or two 
proof texts, but they took the scope and trend of inspired 
truth into view. His arg-ument accumulated force as it 
advanced, and at the close he could, as he sometimes did, 
appeal to his hearers to admit his positions, or take the 
alternative that the Bible is a lie. There was great power 
in his earnest and perfect confidence in the Word of God, as 
eternal trutli. He preached as though he believed every 
hearer would so regard it. 

'•Another attractive feature of his preaching was the 
entire absence of all display, ornament, or mere rhetoric. 
Students like all these in themselves^ but not in the revival 
preacher. Professor Kewman had taught as wiselj'- and 
well tlie place and value of naturalness, — of being true to 
nature in style and manner, and of having each part in 
keeping Avith the rest. Dr. Poiid's style was an excellent 
example of this. He was naturally, not artificially, earnest. 
There was no affected solemnity of tone or manner. There 
was often the hush and rajot silence of the great audience, 
that evinced profound attention, but it was the cogency 
of the reasoning, the power of truth forcibly stated, that 
produced it. 

'' He met quite a number of us students in a more private 
Way, to commend to our attention Bangor Seminary. We 
liked the man, w^e thought him frank, genial, yet courageous 
ajid strong. He was a man among men, a man who could 
hold his own anywhere, and command respect. His f rank- 
n^^ss and honesty were so manly and genuine as to disarm 
roughness and malice, and make hj^pocrisy blush. We 
liked moreover his earnest enthusiasm for the Theological 
Seiiiinary in Bangor. Up to that date, 1834, most of its 
students had entered after a preparatory course of four or 
five, years in the classical school. But that year and the 
next' drew some fifteen and twenty college graduates, and 
constituted an era in the history of the Seminary. They 
were drawn thither by the character, ability, and scholar- 
ship 0;f the two professors, Pond and Bond." 



KEY. EKOCH POKD, D.B. 73 

The question of students was one which at 
the first gave Brother Bond and myself great 
anxiety. Under the previous administrations, no 
college graduates had been connected with the 
Seminary, and it was feared they would turn 
from it in the future. Our Theological School 
was then young. Our location is farther to the 
east than any of the colleges ; and to enter 
Bangor Seminary, graduates must turn away 
from long-settled and well-manned institutions. 
This disadvantage still exists ; and to fill our 
halls with liberally-educated students, constant 
effort must be made, peculiar advantages offered, 
and motives touching the piety and loyalty of the 
Christian young men of Maine must be urged. 
With this object in view, I visited Bowdoin College 
in 1832 and 1834, and also visited Dartmouth and 
some other colleges in New England. In 1833, 
several college graduates entered the Seminary. 
In the autumn of 1834, nineteen students 
entered the junior class, eight of whom were 
graduates of Bowdoin College. Among those 
who entered in these years were Dr. Benjamin 
Tappan, Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, Professor H. B. Smith, 
Henry G. Storer, Franklin Yeaton, and others 
well-known to us all. I have ever felt under 
special obligations to the young men Avho came 
to us at that time. They did it certainly under 
some sacrifice of feeling. They did it from a 
sense of duty, and for the public good, and I 
trust it was never to them a cause of regret. 
They actually did more to advance the interests 



74 A MEMORIAL OF 

of the Seminary than if they had given us thou- 
sands of dollars. They set an example which 
had influence ; they turned the tide in our favor ; 
and from that time to this the question of 
students has given us but little trouble. 

The only circumstance in the next year which 
cast a cloud over the prospects of the Seminary 
was the failure of Professor Bond's health, which, 
much to the sorrow of the trustees and himself, 
constrained him to resign his post. This took 
place in the spring of 1835. 

He was afterward settled in the ministry at 
Norwich, Conn., and has proved himself to be 
a most faithful and devoted pastor. He still 
lives to labor for Christ, though not now in 
the active duties of the ministry. 

Dr. Bond died about six months after my father, in 1882. 
Says one who visited him a little while before his death: 
'' When I saw him in his serene, lovely old age, he spoke 
with deep and tender emotion of those years in Bangor, and 
with admiration of the ' heroic warfare of Brother Pond ' 
for the beloved Seminary. Thus have passed two noble 
and beloved men, with whose names no sentiments but those 
of love and reverence can ever be associated. Each did his 
work in a different way from the other ; each was excellent 
in his own way." 

The vacancy caused by Professor Bond's resig- 
nation was soon happily filled. In June, 1835, 
Rev. Leonard Woods, Jr., then of New York, 
was elected professor of sacred literature, and 
entered on his duties in the autumn ; '' a 
polished, accomplished, scholarly, and fascinating 
man." 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 75 

The year 1835 was the height of the " Eastern- 
Lands " speculation, and everybody was growing, 
or thought himself growing, rich, in the vicinity 
of Bangor. In June of this year, the Conference 
of Congregational Churches met in Bangor, 
and a proposition was made that $100,000 
be raised, to be paid in four equal annual 
payments, for the purpose of completing the 
endowment of the Seminary. The proposition 
was adopted, with the understanding that those 
who had not paid on their previous subscription, 
might merge their indebtedness in this. This 
subscription was obtained chiefly by my efforts, 
and the friends of the Seminary now supposed 
that its pecuniary embarrassments were at an 
end. But subsequent events proved the insta- 
bility of human affairs, and how little dependence 
can be placed on the brightest earthly prospects. 
The subscription was raised in a time of specu- 
lation, and of high fancied or seeming prosperity. 
In the pecuniary reverses which followed, and 
the consequent depreciation of almost all kinds 
of property, many individuals who had sub- 
scribed liberally, and in good faith, found 
themselves unable to meet their engagements, 
or even to pay their honest debts. An aged 
Christian gentleman in Bangor, subscribed $16,- 
000 to endow a professorship, but was never 
able to pay a cent of it. These subscriptions 
were paid irregularly, and not more than a third 
of them were ever paid. Still the subscription 
was a great blessing to the Seminary. It enabled 



76 A MEMORIAL O^ 

the trustees to complete and furnish buildings, 
meet current expenses, enlarge the library ; and 
I hardly see how the Seminary could have been 
kept in operation, during the years of revulsion 
and distress which followed the expansion of 1835, 
without it. 

Until the year 1836, there had been but two 
professors in the Seminary: one of theology and 
one of sacred literature. Professor Woods dis- 
charged the duties of the latter professorship, 
and I did all the rest. In addition to theology, 
I gave such instruction as I could in ecclesiastical 
history, homiletics, and pastoral duties. My 
method of teaching theology was, substantially, 
that of Dr. Emmons and of the private teachers 
in New England. I first gave out a subject with 
a list of books to be consulted. I then read one 
or more lectures on the subject, and had a full 
and free discussion of it with the class. Then 
each of the students was required to prepare an 
essay on the subject, and these essays were 
publicly (that is, before the whole class) read, 
criticised, and discussed. Our sessions sometimes 
continued for two or three hours. With the 
reading and discussion of the essays, the consid- 
eration of that particular subject closed ; to be 
followed by another and then another, to be 
treated in the same way. When all the 
topics in the course had been thus gone over, 
the whole was carefully reviewed, and prepa- 
ration was made for the closing examination. 
This method of teaching theology I decidedly 



BEY. ENOCH PO]^D, D. L\ 77 

prefer to that of teaching solely by lectures. It 
furnishes a much better mental discipline, and 
prepares the scholar to think and reason for 
himself. In many instances I have been sur- 
prised at the improvement students would make 
in their modes of thinking, speaking, and writing, 
while passing through the studies of our middle 
year. The opinion here expressed as to the effect 
of our method of teaching theology, has been 
confirmed by some of our best students. In a 
letter from the late Rev. Nathan Dole, I find : '' I 
improved more during my middle year in the 
Seminary than in any other year of my life ; and 
your method of study for the young men seems 
admirably adapted to its end. I have been on the 
point of saying this to you several times of late, 
as I . have freely said it to others." Let me add, 
however, that no course of study, however well- 
adapted and complete in itself, can make a student 
a theologian^ without his own persevering efforts. 
He must himself study ; he must study hard. 
He must not only read and hear, but he must 
think and.w^rite, and thus task and discijjline 
and strengthen his own powers. In the study 
of theology, the student must not hold himself 
in the attitude of a mere receiver^ to drink 
in and retain the thoughts of others; but 
in the attitude of a thinker^ who is tliinking 
for himself; who is actively comparing what 
he reads and hears with the decisions of his 
own consciousness and of the Word of God, 
thus making his system of theology, in the best 
sense of the term, his system. 



78 A MEMORIAL OF 

Rev. R. B. Thurston, one of my father's pupils in the 
Seminary, gives this reminiscence of his theological 
class: ''As a theological instructor Dr. Pond had many ex- 
cellences. He was not a system-builder. He had no ambi- 
tion to found a new school of speculative divinit3^ It was a 
small matter to him to overhang a pillow of sacred truth 
with a network of human logic. But he had clear views and 
solid convictions. He stated the results of his own reading 
and meditation with discriminating and lucid expression. 
His great desire was to have points of doctrine proved by 
the Scripture, and proved in the essays of his classes. 
After the readings of my own class, on the Divinity of 
Christ, he said, pleasurably, ' I believe you have all proved 
it.' The class was one of the largest ever graduated from 
Bangor Seminary, and about equally divided between old- 
school and new-school divinity. The wind of disputation 
often blew hard, and positions were assailed on every side. 
Dr. Pond never sought to suppress by dogmatism. He 
preserved his dignity and power as a teacher without putting 
constraint upon our thought. He was quick, bright, keen, as 
well as kindly. I am sure that all held him in high esteem for 
his quickening influence upon our minds, stimulating us to 
the honest, earnest, reverent pursuit of truth. He was 
orthodox, but would not imprison the sinner within the five 
points of Calvinism, so that gospel offers become a paradox ; 
nor let down the sovereignty of God, so that Deity is 
subject to human will. His breadth, both of understanding 
and of heart, was manifest in his expectation of meeting in 
heaven those great men who, like Socrates, sought truth by 
nature's light, and in his confidence in the piety of little 
children, who, in the expression of their love, seemed to 
him not to be in the Pauline sense 'in the flesh.'" 

In 1836, Rev. George Shepard, of Hallowell, 
Maine, was elected professor of sacred rhetoric. 
The supposed endowment, on which he was 
appointed, failed, like many other expectations 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 79 

of that ill-fated time ; but Professor Shepard 
did not fail us; lie never failed us. He was, 
from the first, of inestimable value to the 
Seminary. 

A man of massive form and majesty of movement; 
strong, yet with the simplicity of a child ; mighty in con- 
densing thought, as the energies of a storm are sometimes 
condensed into a single burst of lightning, thunder, and 
rain; his countenance becoming luminous in the moments 
of intensest ardor in public speech. — Dr, S. H. Harris. 

This beloved brother continued with us thirty- 
two years, residing with his family under the 
same roof with me and mine. In the spring of 
1868, he was suddenly removed from us by death. 
For months he had shown marks of decrepitude, 
and it had been evident to us that his work was 
nearly done. I cannot here dwell on the character 
of my beloved and honored friend. His works 
remain ; and he has left a memorial in the hearts 
of all who knew him, Avhicli can never be effaced. 

Dr. Shepard's character showed a rare combination of 
natural diffidence and consciousness of power, aroused by 
sense of duty and responsibility. A diffident nature, when 
mastered and wisely regulated, becomes itself an additional 
element of power and of beauty of character. The rousing 
of one's self, inevitable to the facing of dreaded duties, 
moves the whole soul, keeps it exalted and intense, brings 
out the full force of its faculties. A man naturally diffident, 
whose diffidence is made to yield to principle, is usually the 
bravest and boldest when there is need of it ; and with a 
bravery that has in it so little of self-assertion and so much 
of modesty, that the blending of the opposite qualities lends 
a peculiar fascination to the character. — Bev, G. W. Field. 



80 A MEMORIAL OF 

During the year 1836 a boarding-house was 
erected ; and arrangements made for the board- 
ing of students, which have worked admirably 
and are still followed out. During this year the 
Classical School connected with the Seminary was 
closed. It had been sustained at considerable 
expense, and had been very useful. Here stu- 
dents had been prepared for the Seminary, who 
had received no collegiate education ; but there 
seemed to be no longer a necessity for it. The 
large building devoted to its use Avas remodeled, 
and made into a double house for two professors. 

In August, 1839, Professor Woods resigned his 
chair, to become President of Bowdoin College. 

Of President Woods, Professor Alpheus Packard writes : 
**A rare reputation for profound and elegant scholarship, 
for power and beauty as a writer, and for great conver- 
sational ability, brought hiin to Brunswick. He held the 
office of President of Bowdoin College till 1866, and at that 
time resigned, being in his sixtieth year, and his resignation 
was accepted. He spent some time in Europe in the interests 
of the Maine Historical Society. The results of this re- 
search appeared in the first and second volumes. of the Doc- 
umentary History of Maine. In 1873, a fire consumed 
nearly all his manuscripts and most of his beloved books, 
destroying also a great part of the results of his literary 
labor. He never recovered from the nervous shock which 
this gave him. Repeated attacks of i3aralysis resulted in 
the utter decay of his brilliant powers, and in his death 
December 24, 1878." — History of Bowdoin College, 

On the same day of Professor Woods' resig- 
nation, Rey. Daniel Smith Talcott, of Newbury- 
port, was chosen his successor, and was inaugu- 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 81 

rated at the anniversary in 1840. He still fills 
the professorship of sacred literature with great 
acceptance. 

Of him Dr. Harris remarks, in his ^' Memorial of Dr. 
Pond'': ''It was my good fortune that the junior class, 
of which I was a member in Andover Theological School, 
had Dr. Talcott, who had just completed his professional 
studies, a? their instructor in Hebrew; and a more efficient 
and successful teacher I never knew. More than this his 
presence with us to-day forbids me to say." 

Again the endowment of our professorship of 
sacred rhetoric failed. Owing to the celebrity 
of our beloved Professor Shepard as a preacher, 
and the charm of his character, he was repeatedly 
assailed with invitations to remove to more 
imposing and lucrative positions. The most 
formidable of these assaults was made in the 
spring of 1847, when he was urged by a united 
people, and tempted by the offer of a large 
salary, to become pastor of the Pilgrim Church 
and Society, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Professor Shep- 
ard had promised to go, unless his professor- 
ship should be sufficiently and solidly endowed by 
a stated time ; and a committee had come on 
from the church to see that the separation was 
effected. I felt that it was time for the friends 
of the Seminary to bestir themselves. I went 
first of all to that generous and reliable friend 
of the Seminary, Hon. G. W. Pickering. As I 
entered the room, Mr. Pickering welcomed me, 
and said : '' Dr. Pond, I know what you have 
come for," and at once, almost without solicita- 



82 A MEMORIAL OF 

tion, pledged, and secured by mortgage of his 
own dwelling-house, $5,000. I secured myself 
the whole subscription, and that, too, in the space 
of a week's time, and by the liberality chiefly of 
Bangor Christians, and the endowment was 
completed. These friends are entitled to the 
credit of saving the Seminary; for if Professor 
Shepard had left. Professor Talcott and I should 
have resigned, and the Seminary, to all human 
appearance, would have been irrevocably ruined. 
But the subscription was raised and the Seminary 
saved. 

In 1849, two legacies from the late Waldo 
family of Worcester, Mass., amounting to $12,000, 
were received ; $8,000 had already been given by 
the family ; making in all $20,000. 

I had been a special friend of the family before 
I came to Bangor, and there was nothing in 
particular to attract them to our Seminary except 
my connection with it. The sum was used in 
the endowment of the professorship of ecclesi- 
astical history, which bears, and I hope may 
always bear, the honored name of Waldo, 

In the autumn of 1854, having discharged the 
duties of two professorships (those of theology 
and of history) for twenty-two years, I requested 
to be released from one of them; and as I 
earnestly desired, while I lived, to see the pro- 
fessorship of theology satisfactorily provided for, 
I proposed to relinquish that, and confine my 
attention in future to the department of ecclesi- 
astical history. 



REV. e:n^och pond, d. d. 83 

My proposition was acceded to, and, in the 
spring of 1855, Rev. Samuel Harris, of Pittsfield, 
Mass., was elected to the chair of theology. This 
appointmcDt was accepted, and at the following 
anniversary Professor Harris was inaugurated ; 
I was formally transferred to the department of 
history, and constituted President of the Faculty. 
On being released from my duties in the the- 
ological department by the appointment of 
Professor Harris, I felt the importance of doing 
more than I had before been able to do in the 
department of church history. I had already 
prepared a course of lectures on dogmatic history 
(the history of Christian doctrines, institutions, 
rites). I had also prepared a course of lectures 
on the history of the church under former dis- 
pensations, including the Old Testament history 
and the history of the dark period intervening 
between the close of sacred Old Testament history 
and the coming of Christ. In teaching church 
history I had, up to this time, used Murdock's 
Mosheim as a text-book; not because I entirely 
approved of it, but because I could find nothing 
I liked better. The modern German histories are 
so contaminated with a false philosophy that 
I could not think of adopting them. Mosheim's 
History is a dull work, especially in its chapters 
on the Middle Ages. I had always found it dif- 
ficult to interest a class of scholars in it. At 
length I thought of doing myself what I had long 
waited for some one to do for me. I prepared 
a full course of lectures on Christian church 



84 A MEMORIAL OF 

history, commencing with the birth of Christ, and 
tracing its history through to the present time. 
I began teaching by lectures in 1862. My method 
was to examine the class on each lecture, not 
directly at the close of it, but at the commence- 
ment of the following session ; directing them, in 
the meanwhile, to a general course of reading on 
the subject. At the conclusion of the course the 
whole is reviewed by the help of a prepared list 
of questions. Pursued in this manner, I have 
found the study more interesting to scholars, and, 
I think, more profitable than in the old manner 
of reciting from a text-book. 

In the summer of 1859, the chapel and library 
building was dedicated. It had long been needed, 
and has proved of inestimable value to the institu- 
tion. Previously, four large rooms in the large 
building were used for chapel purposes, and the 
bell, jDresented by a gentleman of Massachusetts, 
was hung in a frame resting on the ground. The 
valuable library of the Seminary was kept in 
a wing of the boarding-house, a wooden structure, 
and every opportunity was offered for a conflagra- 
tion. The lower story of the chapel was fitted up 
as a handsome library; the second story contained 
a large audience-room, recitation-rooms, and a 
museum of curiosities belonging to the Society 
of Inquiry on Missions. The building cost more 
than 112,000, and was erected through the efforts 
of the ''Corban," a society of ladies in Bangor. 
In reporting to the General Conference the great 
achievement of the ladies, the visiting committee 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 85 

for 1859 say: "God bless the ladies of Bangor, 
who started this enterprise, and the ladies of this 
State and else^yhere, ^vho have helped move it on. 
They have giveu to our institution 'a local habita- 
tion and a name,' and are entitled to all the credit 
of this noble result. The 'Corban' Society shall 
be held in loving remembrance wherever Bangor 
Seminary is known. ' Many daughters have done 
virtuously, but thou excellest.' " 

The departments of instruction in the Seminary 
were now satisfactorily filled, and things seemed 
likely to move on without embarrassment. I must 
here record, with gratitude to Him who holds the 
hearts of all men in his hands, the donations and 
legacies of friends of the Seminary during the 
years 1863-G8. A legacy of $10,000 was re- 
ceived from the estate of Deacon Jacob Hayes, 
of Charlestown, Mass., which was appropriated to 
the professorship of sacred literature. A legacy 
of $3,000 was received from the estate of Hiram 
Fogg, of New York, accompanied by a donation 
of $10,000 from his brother, William Fogg, 
both of which were appropriated to the professor- 
ship of sacred rhetoric. The sum of $16,000 was 
also received from Richard P. Buck, of Brook- 
lyn New York, which was appropriated to the 
professorship of theology. In consequence of 
these bequests and donations, it was decided that 
these several professorships should in all future 
time bear the names of those who had so largely 
contributed to their endowment. From the late 
Hon. Ichabod Washburn, of Worcester, Mass., 



86 A MEMORIAL OF 

$16,000 was received for a fund to help students 
who needed assistance. 

The pecuniary condition of the Seminary was 
now favorable. Its debts were paid, its endow- 
ments well begun, the number of students was 
increasing, and its prospects encouraging. Other 
forms of trial lay before us. In the spring of 

1866, Professor Harris was appointed President 
of Bowdoin College, and concluded, after a pro- 
tracted struggle, to go. He continued his 
instructions until the close of the Seminary year, 

1867, and then left for Brunswick. It was a great 
sorrow to the trustees and his colleagues to part 
with him; but his convictions of duty were clear, 
and naught remained to us but to give him our 
blessing and let him go. 

Scarcely had we passed through this trial when 
another and great affliction fell on us. In the 
spring of 1868, Professor Shepard died. Of his 
work here, and of his death, I have already 
written. ''Very pleasant hast thou been to me, 
my brother ! " 

The vacancy occasioned by Professor Harris's 
removal was filled in the summer of 1867. Rev. 
John li. Herrick, of Malone, N. Y., was elected, 
and accepted the appointment, entering on his 
duties at once. Professor Herrick was an able and 
excellent man. He remained with us six years, 
but the last two years was unable to do much for 
the Seminary. During one of these he was absent 
in Europe and the East, and through most of the 
other he was confined to the house by sickness. 
He resigned his position in 1873. 



REY. ENOCH POND, D. D. o , 

Dr. Herrick is now occupying the laborious and responsi- 
ble post of President of Oregon College. 

In 1868, Rev. AVilliam M. Barbour, of Peabocly, 
Mass., was appointed successor to Professor 
Shepard in the chair of sacred rhetoric. He 
accepted the appointment, and commenced his 
labors here in the autumn of 1868. During the 
absence and subsequent illness of Professor Her- 
rick, Professor Barbour undertook the care of the 
theological department, as well as his own; and 
when Professor Herrick resigned, was transferred 
to the chair of theology, and Professor John S. 
Sewall, of Bowdoin College, was elected to fill the 
vacancy. Professor Sewall commenced his duties 
as professor of sacred rhetoric, in the autumn of 
1873. The number of students from 1835 to 1860 
was remarkably uniform — rarely over fifty or 
under forty. In 1863, we had on our catalogue 
the names of sixty-four students ; the next year, 
fifty-nine. Owing partly to the war, and partly 
to the lack of revivals in our colleges and 
churches, the number in the Seminary was, for 
several years, diminished. Latterly, it has in- 
creased again, and the rooms are full. In the 
autumn of 1871, having been connected with the 
Seminary forty years, and being in the eightieth 
year of my age, I felt called upon to resign my 
office as professor of ecclesiastical history, and a 
successor was appointed. Rev. Leonard L. Paine, 
of Farmington, Conn. He has proved himself 
an acceptable teacher and worthy man. I still 



.o A. MEMOKIAL UJ? 

continue my connection with the Faculty as pre- 
siding officer, and with the Seminary as "emeritus 
professor." I reside at the Seminary, and do all 
in my power to advance its interests in every 
direction. This it is my purpose to do, so long 
as God grants me ability and opportunity. 

It may be thought inappropriate, in an auto- 
biography, to incorporate so much of the history 
of the Seminary; but I could not avoid it. My 
life in Bangor has been so closely connected with 
it, — so bound up in it and with it, — that it was 
impossible to give an account of the former during 
the last forty years unless by connecting it with 
the latter. 

Eleven years have elapsed since my father's resignation 
of his professorship, and his death. During nine of these 
years he met the students weekly at Monday evening 
prayers, and frequently was present at the chapc^l prayer- 
meetings. He was thoroughl}^ acquainted with them; 
they came to him as to a father, bringing their religious 
doubts, their social troubles, their afflictions, bodily or 
mental, their pecuniary difficulties; and they always met 
sympathy, advice, and relief. He also presided during 
these years at meetings of the Faculty. His interest in the 
Seminary took practical form in the many letters written to 
invite students, solicit donations, and welcome new comers. 
The last occasion of his presenting the diplomas to the 
graduating class was in June, 1879. 

His last formal meeting with the Trustees, Facultj^ and 
Alumni, was at the Alumni Dinner, in June, 1880. A local 
paper closes its report of the occasion in these words : — 

'^ The festivities of the table were full of pathos when the 
venerable President of the Faculty, Dr. Pond, nearly ninety 
years of age, and connected with the Seminary since 1832, 
spoke with trembling, yet sonorous voice, and flowing tears. 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 89 

With bowed heads and moistened eyes his pupils listened to 
his fatherly counsels and tender farewells. He said : ' I 
shall do what 1 can so long as my life is spared ; but my 
work is nearly done. I leave the Seminary, under God, to 
you. Provide for it; carry it forwjird so long as it is 
needed on the earth. It will be needed for a very long 
time to come. Go back to your homes, young ministers, 
feeling that you are engaged in the noblest work on earth, 
— the work of saving the souls of j^our fellow men. It is 
not probable that I shall meet you here again, but you will 
still come. Come up in the Spirit and hope of the Gospel. 
God will be your support in life and in death.' " 

Dr. Pond had great patience with his pupils, and great 
faith in them. If some of them were without classical 
education, he recalled the great number of such men who 
had adorned the ministry and the learned professions, and 
he expected his young men would succeed ; he encouraged 
them to the utmost. He scorned the idea of putting them 
into what is called a " special course," and branding them 
with a lower grade, as an inferior branch of the ministry. 
He would give them the privilege of standing side by side 
with the best educated men, and the support of it ; he would 
send them out together with the same diplomas, and bid 
them surpass the college-trained men in power and useful- 
ness if they could. — 8, H, Hayes, 

His intercourse with his students made him their trusted, 
genial, and beloved friend. If he erred in his estimate of 
them, it was on the side of a magnanimous expectation. 
He idealized his pupils, and had large anticipations of 
usefulness in the future exercise of their gifts. — i?. B. T. 

From a memorial address prepared by Dr. Samuel Harris, 
I extract this sketch of Dr. Pond's theology and his stand- 
ing as a scholar : — 

Dr. Pond was a representative of the New England 
theology on its conservative side. The New England 



90 A MEMORIAL OF 

theology is doubtless open to criticism as in some 
respects superficial and inadequate. It has seemingly 
assumed that by precise, definite, and satisfactory 
formulas it had closed the whole* circuit of thought on 
the subjects treated, and by its nice distinctions had 
removed all occasion for doubt and difficulty, while pro- 
founder thought sees that its formulas lack compre- 
hensiveness, and its explanations do not explain; by its 
disproportionate insistence on individualism, by its 
ethical theory of greatest happiness and general benev- 
olence, by its theory of atonement as an expedient of 
statecraft to prevent men from despising the law 
because sin is forgiven, it has seemed to overlook the 
solidarity of mankind, and the reach and power of sin; 
to miss the essential idea of law and righteousness, and 
to lead to the inference that the significance of the 
humiliation of the Son of God in Christ, and of Christ's 
obedience, suffering, and death, instead of being mani- 
fold as the Scriptures represent it, is exhausted in its 
moral influence on men to induce them to return to God. 
But, whatever the imputations of the ^^Kew England 
theology,'' it has at least made a great and abiding con- 
tribution to the progress of theological knowledge. 
It has set forth in clear light the personality of the 
individual as distinguished from, and not submerged in, 
the race or in the organization of church or State, and 
therein has set forth the worth of a man and the sacred- 
ness of his rights; and this is a truth which Avas 
emphasized b}^ Christ and his Apostles, and has made 
Christianity a power in advancing the political and social 
rights and freedom of man. The ISTew England the- 
ology, in setting forth the personality of the individual, 
has asserted and vindicated the freedom of the will ; has 
shown the true idea of sin as the determination or 



BEV. ENOCH POKD, D. D. 91 

choice of the free will in transgressing God's law and 
refusing his redeeming grace; has cleared the fact and 
nature of human responsihility ; has thrown light on 
the scriptural doctrine of regeneration by the Holy 
Spirit and rescued it from misrepresentation^ and has 
made consistent and possible that type of preaching 
which declares that ^-whosoever will^ may take the water 
of life freely/^ and which demonstrates to every man's 
conscience his sinfulness and guilt in not accepting 
Christ as he is fully offered in the Gospel. These great 
truths Dr. Pond emphasized in his theological teaching 
in his classroom and in his preaching. 

It has been said that Dr. Pond was not a man of thor- 
ough scholarship. I would not claim for him aught 
which was not his. One man cannot be everything. 
^^Non omnes possumus omnia.'' His just reputation is 
so high there is no need to enhance it by attributing to 
him what he had not. His undeniable virtues, powers, 
and resources must command admiration and esteem. 
Let us try to form a just estimate of him in this particu- 
lar. His positive and intractable antagonism to all 
German philosophy and criticism is well known. But 
in estimating this, we must remember he was born nearly 
one hundred years ago. When he was receiving his 
education few Americans knew any modern language 
than their own. To Professor Henry W. Longfellow, 
who in 1829 became professor of modern languages in 
Bowdoin College (of which he was a graduate), more 
perhaps than to any one man, we owe the change in the 
American idea of education, whereby it has come to pass 
that acquaintance with one or more of these languages 
and literatures is deemed essential to scholarship, and 
has become common among cultivated people. But Dr. 
Pond was in mature life before this change had 



92 A MEMORIAL OF 

developed itself. During liis long life tlie standard 
of scholarship changed; the very conception of what 
constitutes a scholar was different in the later years 
of his life from what had been when he was receiving 
his education. He was a man of extensive reading. 
He was a scholar in the sense in which President 
Edwards, Dr. Emmons, Dr. Leonard Woods, and other 
leaders of theological thought in New England in the 
last century and the beginning of the present, v/ere 
scholars. He belonged to that earlier period, and his 
scholarship must be judged by its standard and not 
by that of the present time. The fact must also be con- 
sidered that in his earlier years the predominant 
influences from German philosophy and criticism were 
pantheistic, rationalistic, or sceptical. The general 
feeling Avas that familiarity with German theological 
and philosophical studies was dangerous to Christian 
faith. Professor Stuart never entirely outlived the 
fears and suspicions of the influence of his German 
reading. When I was a student at Andover, I remem- 
ber the profound impression produced one day, when 
Professor B. B. Edwards before the assembled school 
announced the publication of Strauss's " Life of Jesus,'' 
and described it as the most powerful assault that had 
been made on Christianity in recent times, and told us 
of the anxiety and alarm which its publication had 
caused. But since then Strauss's theory of the ]^ew 
Testament has been abandoned as inadequate by crit- 
ical scholars and by its author himself. Then came the 
Tubingen school, explaining the i^ew Testament as the 
product of factions in the churches, interpreting the 
^^ enemy" who sowed tares, in the parable recorded 
by Matthew, as being the Apostle Paul, the Gospel of 
Matthew being written in the interest of the Apostle 



Peter. Next came Renan^s ^^ Life of Jesus/' explaining 
the story partly by imposture and pious fraud, and 
partly by fanaticism and seK-illusion. Thus the whole 
process of destructive criticism is a sort of reduction 
to absurdity of all infidel attempts to explain the 
acknowledged facts of the New Testament without 
recognizing the supernatural Christ. We now look with 
composure on all the attempts of rationalism and crit- 
icism to destroy Christianity, and w^elcome all the 
results of philosophical and critical knowledge which 
enlarge, correct, clarify, or confirm our knowledge of the 
truth. But it was not so easy fifty years ago. For 
Dr. Pond be it said that he never doubted the Gospel 
of Christ, nor feared that it would be overthrown. 
And I submit that a theological teacher whose inward 
spiritual life compels him to believe the Gospel and to 
rejoice in the truth, is a better, wiser, and truer teacher 
than one who fears for the truth, but does not rejoice 
and be strong in it ; who fears lest every new assault 
will sweep the kingdom of Christ from the earth, and 
whose teaching is a perpetual apologizing for Christ and 
Christianity, as if the reality and right to be were sub- 
mitted to the decision, and depended on the acceptance, 
of the young men who hear him. A man who is to 
teach theology must know in whom he has believed. 
Another point must be noticed. Not only had the 
standard of scholarship changed in Dr. Pond's late 
years, not only had questions and objections been 
answered which once seemed formidable, but new ques- 
tions had arisen ; questions and objections springing 
from new theories of physical science, from bold 
assumptions respecting human knowledge, and from 
philosophical speculations unfamiliar to the English 
mind and unadapted to English habits of thought. 



94 A MEMORIAL 0¥ 

It was not to be expected that a man already entering 
on old age should enter profoundly on these subjects. 
Especially, it was not to be expected of Dr. Pond ; for 
he was one of those happy persons whose spontaneous 
belief, founded on spiritual need and spiritual ex- 
perience, was always fresh, always a sunshine strong 
enough to burn away the mists of doubt; and he 
imperfectly understood the great fight of afflicting 
doubts and perplexities with which many struggle. 
In his mental constitution he was practical rather 
than speculative ; his thinking was on the practical side 
of things, and he was not given to philosophical ques- 
tioning as to their rationale. But his thinking, in its 
own sphere, was not the less vigorous, his insight not 
the less penetrating, than it would have been had he 
studied things more naturally on their speculative 
side. 



BEY. ENOCH POKD, D. D. 95 



CHAPTER VIII. 

MINISTERIAL LABORS WHILE IN BANOOE. 

nV/TY labors in connection with the Theological 
Seminary, though urgent and incessant, 
have not engrossed my whole attention during the 
year spent in Bangor. Two years after my arrival 
a Second Congregational Church was organized 
— Hammond Street Church. 

I assisted in its organization and, in a month 
after, my wife and myself connected ourselves 
with it. It was for some time without a pastor ; 
and, with Professor Bond, I supplied the pulpit, 
attended religious meetings, and performed much 
pastoral work. It was a season of refreshing at 
that time, and numbers were added to the church. 
Our first pastor was Rev. John Maltby, my brother- 
in-law, who removed from Sutton, Mass. During 
frequent illnesses and absence from the pulpit, I 
have preached to this beloved church hundreds of 
times. I have always made it a point to attend 
the religious meetings of the week, and to take a 
part in them. I continued this habit until within 
a few years, as long as I was able. In this way I 
have found much enjoyment and spiritual profit, 
and hope I have been the means of doing good. 
Nor have my labors been confined to Hammond 
Street Church. In other churches in Bangor I 



96 A MEMOEIAL OF 

was often called to labor. In several instances, 
when Dr. Pomroy was sent out to collect money 
for the Seminary, I have taken charge of his pul- 
pit. In the two Baptist churches in this city, I 
have been called upon to preach occasionally, and 
welcomed to their pulpits ; and my labors as a 
minister of the Gospel have extended into every 
department and to every denomination. 

It has been said of me that I had a very hard 
theology, but were I gatekeeper at the court of 
heaven I should not be able to refuse admittance 
to any one. Perhaps it is all true. I have 
preached much, not only in Bangor, but in the 
neighboring towns, and in some of them statedly 
for months, until their neglected Christian com- 
munities acquired strength and numbers, Avhen I 
assisted in forming them into churches and sup- 
plying ministers for them. In other instances I 
think I have been instrumental in harmonizing 
divided churches and reconciling individual mem- 
bers, who were quarreling with each otlier and 
bringing trouble into their churches and injury 
and disgrace upon the Christian name. Many 
instances I might mention, but fear I might be 
thought personal. In some cases I labored sepa 
lately with opposed parties, conversing with them, 
and persuading them to peace. In a town but 
eight miles from Bangor I had a meeting with a 
church, which was long divided as to discipline 
toward two members, a man and his wife, offend- 
ing members. I continued with them one evening 
as long as Paul continued his preaching at Troas 



BEY. EKOCH POKD, B. D. 97 

(Acts xx, 7), but with no similar results, for the 
division was healed and peace restored. Nor were 
such services wholly uncalled for by the neces- 
sities of the church to vdiich I belonged. The 
charity v/hich ''suffers long and is kind" some- 
times failed there and bitter roots springing up 
troubled us. I think I have generally succeeded 
as peacemaker at such times, and have brought 
about honorable and Christian adjustments. 

At one time a disappointed man was seeking sympathy 
from my father in view of a want of appreciation of labor 
done for others. Father said, we must all be willing to do 
a great deal of unappreciated labor ; and in that connection 
spoke of his having done much among the churches, which 
resulted in good : yet in the event, his share of the work 
was overlooked and unappreciated. This was said not in 
the way of complaint, but as proof of the statement he had 
made. In strong Saxon, father expressed the same thought, 
when a man who had spoken abusively of him, came on 
Saturday night to solicit a gratuitous sermon for his 
church, on the morrow: ''for this work we must expect 
more kicks than coppers, ^"^ 

My father's introduction to the churches in Maine was at 
the meeting of the General Conference of Congregational 
Churches, held in Wiscasset, in June, 1832, a few weeks 
after coming to Bangor. He went by private carriage in 
company with Dr. Pomroy, pastor of the First Congre- 
gational Church, of Bangor. The route was on the West 
shore of Penobscot Piver and Bay, through Belfast, 
Camden, and Thomaston, a hilly but most picturesque road, 
and full of interest to the new comer. At Wiscasset he 
met a noble band of ministers. Maine has never since 
boasted a grander company of ministers than then filled 
her Congregational >pulpits, and presided over her halls of 
learning;. 



98 A MEMORIAL OF 

Kev. Seneca White was pastor of the church in Wiscasset 
at that time. 

Then Dr. Pond first met '' Father Jotham Sewall, great- 
hearted Christian and self-made man; Eev. Stephen 
Thurston, of Sear sport, who just lingers on the threshold 
of life; Dr. George E. Adams filling the important post of 
pastor of the church in Brunswick, and preacher to the 
college; Eev. Benjamin Tappan, courtly in manner, 
sonorous in voice, childlike in heart ; Eev. George Shepard, 
of Hallowell, a brother beloved; Eev. David Tlmrston, 
of Winthrop, venerable then; Eev. David Shepley, of 
Yarmouth ; Eev. Eichard WoodhuU, of Thomaston ; Eev. 
J. Peet, of Norridgewock ; Dr. William Dwight, of 
Portland; Dr. Ellingwood, of Bath; Eev. Carlton Hurd, 
of Fryeburg; Eev. Asa Cummings, of Portland, for 
many years editor of the ' Christian Mirror.' " 

The fathers ! where are they? Ever}^ name of them but 
one must be starred. 

At this conference, sermons were preached by Drs. 
Dwight and Tyler, of Portland; Eev. E. S. Storrs, of 
Braintree, Mass., and Dr. Tappan. 

Favorable resolutions were passed regarding the temper- 
ance reform and the Education Society. Days of fasting 
and prayer : July 12, recommended in view of the invasion 
of the cholera on our coasts; and the first Monduy in 
January, for the conversion of the world. The favorable 
resolutions with regard to Bangor Theological Seminary 
were of special interest and encouragement to Dr. Pond. 

Dr. Pond was a trustee of the Maine Missionary Society, 
from 1847 to 1880. He was on terms of intimate friendship 
with the secretaries of this Society, Dr. Tappan, Dr. 
Thurston, Eev. Mr. Adams, and fully understood the work 
of the Society. He carried on a frequent correspondence 
with its secretaries, on the affairs of the Societj^, and, as 
the 3^ believed, rendered them eflicient help by his counsels. 
Of this branch of Christian work he says : — 



REV. EKOCH POND, D. B. 99 

I became, through this Society and my personal 
relations with Maine ministers, many of whom are 
graduates of the Seminary, pretty well acquainted 
with the religious wants of Maine, and with the 
feeble churches ; also with the sincerity and Christian 
charity of the larger and more wealthy churches of 
the State. I know something of the devotion of 
Maine home missionaries, and of the sacrifices 
made to obtain and promote the preaching of the 
Gospel. Maine is a noble State, worth laboring for. 
Her Christians are noble Christians. Her missionaries 
are doing harder work and suffering greater privations 
than many who labor in foreign fields. Unknown to 
fame, and without the supporting sympathy of the 
church at large, these ministers and their families are 
wearing out their lives for the 'Gospel. God bless them ! 
and bring them more into our prayers and thoughts. 

At the time of my coming to Bangor, and for 
a good many years after, "four-days meetings," 
somewhat like the ''fellowship meetings" home 
missionaries are now holding in the Western 
districts, and which are doing so much good, were 
frequent among the churches of the State. I have 
often had the privilege of laboring in them, and 
in protracted meetings and revivals of religion, 
when my Seminary duties allowed. 

Our students were sometimes sent out to labor 
in such seasons, when the Holy Spirit was Teacher 
and the work of an evangelist and pastor was 
opened to them. Such teaching and experience 
were invaluable to them as they stood at the 
threshold of a life-work in the ministry. I pre- 



100 A MEMORIAL OI" 

pared a series of sermons to be preached at pro- 
tracted meetings and in times of reyiyal, present- 
ing, in close connection and as persuasively as 
possible, the doctrines of grace. In years gone 
by, I ^Yas frequently called to assist my good 
brother, Dr. Benjamin Tappan, of Augusta, in 
times of religious revival. Very precious seasons 
have we enjoyed together in this work, and we 
shall love to review them and trace their influence, 
when we meet in heaven. 

Dr. Tappan, of N orridgewock, referring to these seasons, 
writes: ''As to revival sermons, I never heard any that 
seemed better adapted to their purpose than Dr. Pond's. 
At Brunswick, I heard him preach the sermon on the text, 
'I thought upon my ways and turned my feet unto thy 
testimonies,' since published in a tract named 'Think and 
Turn.' I have no doubt that the very interesting 
conversions in Brunswick, in the revival of 1834, were 
largly owing to Dr. Pond's lucid and persuasive, as well as 
deeply solemn, preaching of the Gospel in public, and his 
skilful dealing with inquirers in private. I saw him 
frequently about that time, at my father's, in Augusta. 
I rode with him from Augusta to Brunswick. I was quite 
charmed with his affable and instructive conversation, and 
impressed with his wide range of knowledge and his 
evident mental activity. I still think there are a few more 
genial and entertaining than he was in private intercourse ; 
few theological teachers of more real goodness and 
fraternal interest in the young men committed to their 
charge. I need not say how highly my father esteemed 
him; how much he enjoyed his society, and how glad he 
was of his assistance in times of religious interest, while 
pastor of the church in Augusta; how gladly he availed 
himself of his counsel, when secretary of the Maine 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. lOl 

Missionary Society. Maine has few truer friends than Dr. 
Pond has been.'' 

I remember a meeting of great interest I 
attended with Brother Adams at Waterville ; and 
another, when I assisted Brother McKeen at 
Belfast. A protracted meeting in Hampden was 
the means of bringing out a number who after- 
vfard became pillars in that church. We have 
been greatly blessed in our churches in Bangor in 
past years. The revivals of 1840 added to Ham- 
mond Street Church about forty-five members by 
profession. Another general revival occurred in 
1852, in which the Sabbath School was greatly 
blessed, and many of the children of the church 
were gathered in, who have since proved by a holy 
Christian profession and good service for God the 
sincerity of their conversion. I think some fifty 
members came into our church in that year, as 
fruits of that revival. The most general revival 
of religion which we have ever witnessed in 
Bangor occurred in 1857. This was characterized 
not so much by the results of preaching, as of 
prayer-meetings and personal Christian work. 
Union morning prayer-meetings commenced in 
the large vestry of the Columbia Street Baptist 
Church, and continued from eight till nine o'clock 
A. M. The room was crowded every morning; 
and two other like meetings were opened in other 
parts of the city, — all filled with warm-hearted 
Christians and earnest seekers after God. I 
attended their meetings constantly for over three 
months, and had the privilege of laboring in them. 



102 A MEMORIAL OF 

Several hundred persons were hopefully converted, 
some of whom had previously been openly neglect- 
ful of all religious principles. The churches were 
all increased and strengthened, and for a time 
"there was great joy in this city." 

When I first came into the State, I was per- 
mitted to engage in one of the most powerful 
revivals I ever experienced. It was in 1834, in 
Brunswick, in the spring of the year. I preached 
there in connection with the pastor, Rev. George E. 
Adams, Dr. Tappan, of Augusta, and the clergy- 
men of the college faculty. It was during this 
protracted meeting, at the time when Mr. Charles 
Packard, Governor Dunlap, and other influential 
men of Brunswick, and a number of college 
students, were converted, who afterward became 
members of our Seminary and went into the 
ministry, that a remarkable spirit of prayer was 
manifested, and God gave special evidences of his 
power in answer to prayer. 

Di-. Hamlin, of Middlebury College, referring to this 
revival which occurred while he was in college, thus relates 
his recollections of some of its scenes : — 

'' This revival commenced in the increased interest in the 
'• praying circle ' in Bowdoin College. From being small 
in numbers and cold in spirit, it rose to large numbers and 
earnest zeal, so that it filled a large double hall where it 
was held, and nearly all the students were present at it. 
As we went out at the close of an early evening meeting, 
Professor Longfellow passed by on the street. He paused, 
and asked: 'What does this mean?' I told him it was a 
gathering of the students for prayer, that had just closed 
its services. He seemed filled with surprise. 



EEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 103 

'* I can never forget Dr. Tappan's remarkable prayers in 
these revival meetings. On the evening referred to above, 
I was late at the service in the church. The large audience- 
room was full. I passed into a pew in the side aisle, not 
very tar up. Dr. Tappan had just begun to pray with the 
fervor and unction we all remember. All stood in prayer; 
just before me across the aisle rose the large erect figure of 
Governor Dunlap. What on earth is he here for ? was my 
thought. Only to mock and ridicule, or from a curiosity to 
see how things go on. Soon Dr. Tappan began to pray for 
' our Chief Magistrate, now in the Divine Presence,' with 
great earnestness, as though he would move earth and 
heaven in his behalf. He prayed that he might have a view 
of the sinfulness of his own heart ; that he might be afraid 
before God ; that he might be wholly humbled before his 
Maker ; that eternal things might become so 7'eal to him, 
that, compared with a life of ease, power, and fame, without 
God^ he might heartily choose poverty, scorn, the loss of all 
things, icith God^ witli his favor and his peace. Dr. Tappan 
continued with such earnest and personal petitions, that I 
could onl}^ think: How mad the Governor will be! How 
mistaken is the zeal of the good Doctor to break up, 
perhaps, the revival by hurling such a firebrand against our 
proud, unbelieving democratic Governor ! But the prayer 
ended. Your father preached. The arrow of Divine truth 
was forced home to many hearts. At the early prayer- 
meeting, a brother gave thanks that ' our Governor had 
passed a sleepless night of conviction.' He soon came 
out boldly on the Lord's side. Dr. Tappan's prayer was 
answered." 

My connection with the theological students has 
made me an eye-witness to the importance and 
value of the American Education Society. I was 
made vice-president of the Maine branch of this 
Society m 1843, and I continued in that office 



104 A MEMORIAL OF 

until I was made president of it in 1868. I am 
now one of the few remaining who remember the 
origin of this Society and the venerable men by 
whom it was instituted. I know the motives of 
these men and the deep sense of church necessity 
by which they were actuated. They could not go 
forward with their projected plans for the enlarge- 
ment of Zion, in this and other lands, without such 
an organization. The Society is fundamental and 
most important, though, like all foundation-work, 
it is most unseen. For forty-five years I have 
been in a situation to watch its operations. I 
have distributed over fifty thousand dollars of its 
funds in these years; a very small per cent, may 
have been misapplied or misused. I cannot agree 
with those who discredit its importance. How 
many useful and highly honored ministers in the 
home and foreign fields have been fitted for their 
work through the agency of this Society, who 
might otherwise be yet following the plow, 
handling the spade, or working at a trade ; use- 
ful Christians, truly, but with the talent yielding 
but fivefold, when now it yields a hundred-fold. 
God bless the Education Society ! 

Kev. William Jackson, d. n., of Dorset, Vermont, origi- 
nated and set in operation the first Education Society, in 1803, 
for replenishing the ministry. It was called ^'The Evan- 
gelical Society for aiding needy and pious young men in 
acquiring education for the Gospel ministry." This Society 
continued its efforts till the formation of the American 
Education Society and its auxiliaries; and more than fifty 
young men were aided by it in preparing for the ministry. 
The American Education Society was organized, in Boston, 



BEV. EKOCH POND, D. D. 106 

in 1815. The Maine branch of this Society was formed, in 
Portland, in 1818. 

My father's interest in the work of foreign missions 
commenced soon after his conversion and was unflagging 
till the end of li e. His profession of religion Avas made 
but a few weeks before the departure of the first band of 
missionaries, sent out as the first fruits of the American 
Board of Missions, in 1812. He soon after records, in an 
early letter : '* I seem to hear the voices of perishing heathen 
calling to me.-' Among the books of his library given to 
the Pacific Seminary vras a complete set of the '* Missionary 
Herald,-' from the '* Panoplist,*' its first formJnl808, to the 
last number of the ** Missionary Herald,*' January, 1882. 
These have all been read and prayed over, and bound for 
preservation, up to the year 1880. Yery early in my 
fathei *s pastorate in Ward, he instituted the monthh^ concert 
of prayer for the conversion of the world ; and to meet the 
wants of the time, and the lack of missionary intelligence, 
he prepared lectures on missionary topics. 

He kept this branch of Christian work before the minds 
of his pupils. He often charged them, wherever they 
might labor, ^^to love the cause of missions, and earnestly 
endeavor with the least possible delay to spread the Gospel 
throughout the world."' With those who have gone from 
the Seminar}" to the foreign work, he has maintained corre- 
spondence, and followed with his thoughts and prayers. 
News from mission fields always interested him. Since he 
reached his eighty-fifth year, the labors of Livingstone, the 
discoveries of Stanley, the reports from the new African 
missions, were read with enthusiasm, anticipating the day 
when the '' Dark Continent *' should be opened to Christian 
laborers, bringing the Light of the Worlds and wheu slavery 
and oppression should cease in all its borders. Dr. Pond 
was a corporate member of the American Board of 
Foreign Missions from 1832 to 1879. For years our father 
closed his evening family-prayer with the words, so familiar 
to many : — 



106 A MEMORIAL OF 

'^ Eemember a world lying in wickedness^ and hasten 
the day of its complete redemption. Thou hast 
promised^ God ! that thy Son shall have the heathen 
for his inheritance^ the uttermost parts of the earth for 
his possession ! 0, remember these words of promise, 
on which Thou hast caused us to hope ; and hasten on 
the happy time when they shall be glorious^ fulfilled ; 
when ' the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth 
as the waters fill the channels of the deep ! ^ ^^ 

Dr. Pond's interest was early awakened in the cause of 
temperance; earlier than the formation of temperance 
societies. In his youth, and for some years after he was 
settled as a minister, intoxicating drinks were considered 
as necessary; nourishing and strengthening when not taken 
in excess. Neither weddings nor funerals were considered 
successful without the punchbowl and toddy-stick. The 
supply of these drinks in the cellar was considered a neces- 
sary part of the yearly domestic outfit, and everybody 
drank cider, wine, gin, and brandy, or New England rum. 
This habit produced a vast amount of drunkenness. In 
that country town in Massachusetts, where Dr. Pond's first 
and only settlement was, cases of hopeless drunkenness 
were frequent. Heads of families, sons, brothers, and 
children were dropping into drunkard's graves. When 
ministers of the Gospel met in associations and ecclesias- 
tical councils, the large tray, covered with decanters and 
rattling glasses, was invariably produced. Dr. Pond used 
to tell a story of his entertainment at the house of a 
neighboring minister, on an exchange. He was put into 
Madam*s best room, and the door was closed ; here he 
spent his time while out of the church, the door opening at 
intervals, when Madam looked in to ask: ''Have some 
rum ? " After he had declined the offer the third time with 
thanks, she urged it no more. 

From a '' Bangor Courier,'' of 1839, I copy some remarks 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 107 

on the license system then existing in Maine, showing that 
my father anticipated the passage of the '^ prohibitory 
law." He makes the report of a committee of the Bangor 
Temperance Union, disclaiming for that Society, formed 
for promotion of temperance principles by moral means only, 
any right or intention to interfere in the execution of laws, 
referring this matter wholly to the civil magistrate, to 
whom it officially belongs. He proceeds to state his views 
of the existing laws ; the moral support they should have 
from the pulpit, the press, and public opinion ; the duty of 
the magistrate to execute them, having bound himself by 
his oath of office to that effect. 

His views of the license system may be given in his own 
words : — 

Our laws provide that certain persons, under certain 
restrictions, should be licensed to sell ardent spirits. 
This law conferring the licensing power I consider as 
wrong in principle and ruinous in tendency, and the 
friends of temperance should not cease to show up its 
absurdities and urge its repeal. 

These licensing laws proceed on the principle that 
ardent spirit, used in moderate quantities, is healthful 
to the human system ; that it does a man good. 
Nothing can be more certain than the fact that, taken 
as a beverage, it is always hurtful. It contains no 
nourishment, and of course can convey none. It can 
only produce a momentary excitement, to be followed 
by consequent lassitude and prostration. Ardent spirit 
is now known to contain active poison, in respect to 
which the only true temperance is total abstinence. 
The licensing laws being thus based upon a false prin- 
ciple, — in a mistaken view of the nature of the article 
of which they treat, — it is not strange that they have 
done no good, that their tendency and effects have been 
almost wholly evil. It is sometimes objected to new 



108 A MEMORIAL OF 

attempts at legislation on the subject of intoxicating 
drink, that past legislation has been so little efficacious ; 
but does it follow that because legislation on a false 
principle has done no good, legislation on a true basis 
can accomplish none ; because licensing the trade in 
such liquor has been productive of only evil, prohibiting 
the trade can result in nothing better ? The absurd- 
ities of this licensing system are palpable and 
monstrous. We make laws for the punishment of 
various crimes, and license that which we truly know 
to be the prolific mother of almost every crime. We 
prune the leaves and twigs of the poisonous upas-tree, 
and water the roots. 

In the '' Christian Union," of August, 1880, I find the 
same views set forth, and the absurdities of the license 
system shown up by vivacious and forcible comparisons. 
I know not that for nearly fifty years he had ceased to 
feel the urgent necessity of a "prohibitory law." 



EEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 109 



CHAPTER IX. 

WORK OF PUBLICATION. 

T^URIXG most of mj life, I have been writing 
occasionally for the press, and chiefly for the 
periodical press. In giving a list of my publica- 
tions, I can give only the principal ones. Of the 
thousand short notices and fugitive articles which 
have appeared from time to time, I can give no 
account and have kept no record. My first pub- 
lished article was a short one on " Church Disci- 
pline," written wliile I was a student in divinity. 
It grew out of a painful case of discipline in the 
church in North Wrentham, in which I was inter- 
ested. Before removing to Boston, w^here as an 
editor I wrote a large proportion of the articles 
published in the " Spirit of the Pilgrims," I sent 
out in some form, two or three articles for the 
press every year. In 1824, I published a volume 
of " Monthly Concert Lectures," the history of 
which I have already given. In the "National 
Preacher," and in pamplilet or tract form, some 
twenty-five sermons of mine have been published. 
From 1830 to 1870, I prepared for the Sunday 
School Union, Tract Society, and Congregational 
Publishing House, about eighteen small works, on 
topics biographical, or practical, or connected with 
my studies in ecclesiastical history, — " Life and 
Times of Wickliffe," " John Knox," " Count Zin- 



110 A MEMORIAL OF 

zendorf," '^President Davies," "Sketches of the 
Reformation," " Popery," " The Ancient Church," 
and others of similar character. 

In 1837, Di*. Pond prepared a volume on the subject of 
'* Probation." The subject is treated in the several chapters 
entitled •' This life a season of probation," '' Subjects of 
probation and its design," "Probation limited to the present 
life," " Objections to this as in the case of infants, idiots, 
and some heathen," ^' Consideration of 1 Peter, iii: 18-20." 
It is a book of solemn truth and is influential in leading its 
readers to realize that they are critically and solemnly 
situated in the present life ; responsible for their opinions, 
and with important duties to discharge one toward another. 

In 1844, in connection with my instructions to 
the classes under my charge in the Theological 
Seminary, I prepared a course of " Lectures on 
Pastoral Theology," which was published ; and in 
1866 a second edition was brought out. These 
instructions relate to the more private intercourse 
of the young pastor with his people, including his 
duties to them in the house and by the way ; in 
times of sickness and affliction, in prosperity and 
adversity ; duties to those rejoicing in hope, or 
mourning in darkness; duties, the neglect of 
which can never be supplied by any gifts of 
learning or eloquence. 

In 1845, Dr. Pond carefully read and studied the works 
of Emanuel Swedenborg, comprised in some thirty volumes. 
The next year he published a book which gave a statement 
of Swedenborg's teachings and claims. It was not intended 
as a controversial work, and was written rather to exhibit 
to Evangelical Christians the dangerous tendencies of Swe- 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. Ill 

denborgian doctrines, which at that time were being 
much pushed forward before the Christian public. 

The preparation for the book was a great labor, and con- 
stant application to it through two long vacations pioved 
nearly too much for him. As he playfully remarked, upon 
the sudden attack of nervous prostration that followed, he 
'' saw visions and dreamed dreams as wild as Swedenborg's 
own." This book has had a wide circulation. It was 
published in 1846. A second edition (revised) was pub- 
lished in 1866; a third edition in 1874; and that is now 
nearly exhausted, though the work is still called for. 

In 1848, Dr. Pond, when a member of a committee of the 
Maine Conference for such a purpose, prepared a '^ Manual 
of Congregationalism," which has passed through two 
editions, and has been of great service as a book of refer- 
ence in congregation councils and churches. 

When Dr. Bushnell, of Hartford, published his new views 
of the atonement. Dr. Pond took up his pen to reply. He 
had no personal acquaintance with Dr. Bushnell. He did 
not question his sincerity, or the purity of his motives ; but 
the sentiments published in his '' God in Christ " related to 
the fundamental doctrines of our religion ; and it could not 
be a matter of indifference to the Christian what opinions 
were entertained in relation to them. In this " Review " 
Dr. Pond endeavored to hold forth beacon lights to those 
who were in danger of making shipwreck of their faith. 
The small volume entitled '^ Review of BushnelPs God in 
Christ " Avas published in 1849. 

In 1867, 1 published my " Theological Lectures," 
one volume, octavo. This book was the result 
of years of earnest thought, faithful study and 
teaching of theological science. It has been 
extensively used as a text-book in theological 
seminaries, and I trust may prove valuable and 
attractive to all thoughtful Christians. This work 



112 A MEMORIAL OF 

of my best years I dedicated to the memory of my 
reverend instructor in theology, Rev. Nathaniel 
Emmons, D. D., of Franklin, Mass. It was first 
published in 1867. Three editions have been since 
published. At the time of the great fire in Boston, 
the stereotype plates of the book were destroyed. 
To encourage the publishers to print and stereotype 
the work again, it was necessary to secure several 
hundred subscribers. These were in a short time 
procured, and the fourth edition, which is now 
nearly exhausted, was issued. 

From the many testimonials given to the value of these 
lectures, I select but one, from '' The New Englander " : — 

'^ These lectures are characterized by remarkable per- 
spicuity of thought and style, robust good sense, clear 
appreciation of the practical bearings of doctrine, a catholic 
and liberal spirit, simplicity and directness of argument, 
and sound Scriptural truth. They are adapted to be read 
and studied not by ministers only, but by all intelligent. 
Christians." 

Dr. Pond published, in 1870, in one large octavo volume, 
his lectures on ecclesiastical history, under the title, 
'* History of God's Church." This book contains his 
lectures to the students of the Seminary, written since 
1862 ; the thirty j^ears during whicli he had taught church 
history having given him time and opportunity for thorough 
investigation and adaptation to the wants of pupils. It has 
been highly commended by those qualified to judge of its 
merits. His colleagues at the Seminary, at the time of its 
publication, Professors Talcott, Herrick, and Barboui*, say 
of it : — 

'•'' This volume of Dr. Pond's meets a want that has been 
long and widely felt. Ecclesiastical histories in abundance 
there are in the market ; but among them all is none that is 



EEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 113 

precisely adapted to general reading. The author has pre- 
sented the leading facts connected with his subject with all 
that clearness and simplicity of style for which he is dis- 
tinguished, and has given us emphatically an ecclesiastical 
history for the people. We anticipate for it an extensive 
circulation." Two editions of this work have been issued. 

••The Seals Opened; or, the Apocalypse Explained." 
The volume with this title was published in 1871. In this 
commentary on the book of Revelation, Dr. Pond agrees 
more nearly with Dr. Barnes, than with Professor Stuart or 
Professor Cowles, in ascribing tlie date of its writing to a 
time subsequent to the destruction of Jerusalem, and near 
the close of the first century of the Christian era ; therefore 
its revelations must have a wider sweep than that accorded 
to them by these professors. The lessons of the Apocalypse 
Dr. Pond understands to be these : To impress us with the 
fact that heavenly beings feel a deep interest in all that 
pertains to the present world, because redemption, God's 
greatest work, is here going on : '' much thought is spent on 
us in heaven " ; to testify that whatever opposes itself to 
God must ultimately fail; and that God's kingdom must 
advance and stand eternally. One of the results of this 
revelation is to excite hope in the hearts of God's people, 
who are looking and longing for the latter-day glory of the 
church. What comfort also is afforded by it to the people 
of God in darkest times ! To the imprisoned, persecuted, 
martyred saints of the early church and later times, it 
pointed out, in the darkness, where the dawn of a glorious 
day would break. 

in 1871, a work entitled '" Conversion" was prepared by 
Dr. Pond, and published by the Congregational Publishing 
Society. ]2mo. 180 pp. 

The nature and importance of conversion are stated, and 
illustrations from real life given; as the marked conver- 
sions of Paul, of Augustine, of Luther, of William Cowper, 
of Colonel Gardiner, of Edwards, and of others ; with the 
design to show that, everywhere, in all circumstances, the 



114 A MEMOrvlAL OF 

great and needed change is substantially the same ; while 
the means by which God works in men, and the first lioly 
aftVctions produced and recognized by the subjects of this 
change, may vary as widely as their iDdividual natures and 
surroundings. 

The last volume published by Dr. Pond is an octavo of 
six hundred and thirty pages entitled *' Conversations on 
the Bible," admirably printed and illustrated by the pub- 
lishers, C. A. Nichols & Co., Springfield, Mass. To give 
the plan and obj ect of this book, I quote from the toucliing 
preface : — 

This work is the child of my old age. My reasons 
for preparing it have been partly personal. I needed 
something to do. I must have some steady congenial 
employment, or I could not be happy. At the same 
time, I could think of nothing on which I might more 
appropriately employ my thoughts, at my period of life, 
than on the Bible. I firmly believed it to be a revela- 
tion from God to the world, " a light shining in a dark 
place. '^ I had made it, in one form or another, the 
study of a long life ; my sentiments with regard to it 
were matured and settled, and what better could I do 
than to pass over its sacred contents, in the form 
of question and answer, and set them forth for the 
benefit of my fellow-men ? The conversational form 
was adopted, as being the most familiar, and best 
adapted, perhaps, to arrest and fi.^ the attention. The 
conversations are between a clerical father and his son : 
not a mere child, but educated and about to enter on 
studies preparatory to the ministry. The work is not 
intended merely for children and young persons. It is 
meant to be read in families, by Sunday-school teachers, 
by persons of all ages and conditions of life. The son 
does not always approach his father in the character 
of a mere inquirer, but often as an interlocutor engaged 



REV. ENOCH POKD, D. D. 116 

in carrying on a conversation, and proposing questions 
for this very purpose. ... I commit this, my latest, 
and perhaps last publication, to God and his people, 
trusting that it may lead to a diligent study of the 
Bible; to a greater love for it and delight in it; to 
a firmer faith in its doctrines ; to a more strict con- 
formity to its sacred precepts, and thus to a more perfect 
preparation for the eternal rest that remaineth for the 
people of God. 

During the winter of his ninetieth year, he overlooked 
the proof-sheets of this volume, often expressing the hope 
that he might live to see its completion. This wish was 
granted, and the pleasure of distributing with his own hand 
the beautiful volumes to his children and many friends. 
An excellent likeness of Dr. Pond is at the opening of this 
book. 

During the fifty years in connection with Bangor Semi- 
nary, Dr. Pond's pen was never idle, and rarely a week 
passed without some contribution to the press. The list of 
articles published in prominent religious periodicals counts 
over one hundred and fifty, and of contributions to news- 
papers several hundred. 

Dr. Pond carried on a large correspondence. He wrote 
uncounted letters in behalf of the Seminary, and to those 
inquiring about it, or seeking admission to it. He held 
ever the pen of a ready writer towards a large circle of 
friends and relatives, his scattered pupils and his own 
family. 

The limits we have set to this simple memorial, our 
father's autobiography with its connecting links, and illus- 
trations of a life so dear to ail who participated in it, forbid 
us to transcribe anything from these letters. But if this 
great correspondence could be gathered in, what warnings 
and encouragements, what helps over hard places, what 
instructions, what pleadings for the right, what breathings 



116 A MEMORIAL OF 

of a submissive, trusting spirit, what words of consolation, 
tenderness affection, would be revealed. Yet they are not 
lost. No word for God or for humanity is ever lost. 

"Writing is eternal; 
For therein the dead heart liveth, the clay-cold tongue is eloquent, 
And the quick eye of the reader is cleared by the reed of the scribe; 
And so, the mind that was among us, in its writings is embalmed," 

Among original papers left by Di. Pond are Lectures on 
Dogmatic History, Lectures on Mental and Moral Philoso- 
phy, under the title of ''The Christian Philosopher," a 
volume of Sermons arranged for publication, a volume of 
Miscellanies arranged for publication. 



RET. EIstOCH POND, D. D, 117 



CHAPTER X. 

SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE IN BANGOR. 

~r ARRIVED with my wife and six children in 
Bangor, in June, 1832. We found it neces- 
sary to board for two or three weeks, but as soon 
as possible went to housekeeping, occupying a 
double house with the family of Professor Bond. 

We had left dear friends and pleasant social 
circles behind us, but we were cordially received 
by new friends in Bangor. There was here a 
choice, though small, society, kindred in religious 
and intellectual interests. Such families as those 
of Crosby, Adams, Coombs, Fisk, McGaw, Carr, 
Barker, Hammond, Brown, laid beautiful founda- 
tions of the structure of social life in Bangor. 

Our domestic life in Bangor has been one of 
mingled correction and mercy. In the spring of 
1833, a son was born to us, Joseph. The little 
fellow lived but three months. My eldest child 
and daughter was married within the first year of 
our residence in Bangor, to Rev. Wooster Parker, 
then settled pastor of the Congregational Church 
in Castine, Maine. A daughter, Mary Sophia, 
was born in 1835, and a son, the Benjamin of 
the family, in March, 18-37. Besides giving my 
daughters the best education in my power, I have 
carried four sons through Bowdoin College and 
the Theological Seminary. My eldest son, Enoch, 



118 A MEMORIAL OF 

entered college in 1835, when fifteen years old. 
Until the year 1837, we had little to record in our 
domestic life but joy. It is true we had our pri- 
vations; but we bore them bravely together. 
There was plenty of hard work, and every expe- 
dient used to make the small salary go as far as 
possible ; but love made the work easy. Health, 
harmony, and success bore us along smoothly ; and 
I sometimes look back to those " days that are no 
more " with actual longing. 

But, in the spring of 1837, my dear wife, the 
mother of my children, the one who had so sweetly 
shared my changes, my joys, and my sorrows, was 
attacked with disease of the lungs. Though 
change of air, rest, and the best medical treat- 
ment were tried it did not pass away as we hoped ; 
but settled into pulmonary consumption. After 
a lingering illness, she died on the ninth of Sep- 
tember, 1838, forty-one years of age. She was a 
noble woman ; a model wife and mother, a faith- 
ful Christian and devoted friend. Quiet, contem- 
plative, self-possessed, she was greatly admired by 
all who saw her, and greatly beloved by all who 
knew her best, to whom she was an example in all 
the relations of social and domestic life. The loss 
of a companion so loved and trusted seemed more 
than I could bear. I knew not how to part with 
her, or to live without her. In God alone I 
sought and found consolation. 

In November, 1838, my second daughter, Cor- 
nelia, was married to Charles Proctor, M. D., of 
Rowley, Mass. The marriage had been deferred 



EEV. EKOCH POND, D. B. 119 

several months, on account of her mother's sick- 
ness and death, to whom she was a most affection- 
ate daughter and nurse. I could not longer re- 
quest her to delay, though her leaving us so soon 
after the death of my wife was a source of great 
loneliness and .anxiety. As the year rolled on, 
I felt the need of some one to take the place of 
her whom I had lost. My children, some of them 
quite young, needed the watchful care and train- 
ing of a mother. My time was filled with Semi- 
nary, pulpit, and literary labors, and I could not 
fill the places of both father and mother. I felt 
the importance of the position, for which I sought 
and obtained of God one whom I could make 
a mother to these motherless ones. I became 
acquainted with Mrs. Anne Mason Pearson, widow 
of Captain John Pearson. We were married 
in July, 1839, and she has been to us all we had 
reason to expect. 

We were a rather neglected set of children, and two of 
us quite young. Left so long to ourselves, I fear we had 
grown wilful and troublesome. But we were ready to wel- 
come the new mother brought to us, and were attracted to 
her by her affectionate and winning manners. As I look 
back to that period of our family history, I w^onder that a 
lady could have been found with grace and love enough to 
undertake the burden of such a family. She was adaiirably 
fitted for her duties. We may have missed sometimes that 
beautiful, unselfisli love and indulgence which we saw 
lavished on more fortunate companions. One can ha\ e but 
one mother, and home must be a shade less bright where 
that one is w^anting. 

She was a woman of culture and power. Her influence 



120 



A. MEMORIAL OS" 



was felt wherever she moved ; in the household, in society, 
in works of bene ;olenee and public mterest, she was 
formed to be a leider. To her suggestion and efforts is 
largely due the er 3ction of the library and chapel building 
of the Seminary. My father's house was always an open 
one to old and nev friends, and my mother presided hospi- 
tably and elegant:^.y at the well-spread board. My mother 
was respected anoi beloved by the students of the Seminary, 
and was always ready to attend to their wants, or receive 
their confidences. Many, coming fresh from school, college, 
or country life^ were introduced by her to the influences of 
a refining social life. The lonely were comforted, the diffi- 
dent encourafred, the dyspeptic and the sick were nursed 
and fed. 

The y^cjars of 1846 - 47 were years of affliction 
and ber'-^avement to me. Two of my children 
were settled in Massachusetts, — Cornelia, as wife 
of a phjysician in Rowley, and Enoch, who gradu- 
ated frcmi the Theological Seminary in 1843. He 
was mtoied to Mary T. Blodget, of Bucksport, 
Maine-^ and settled in Georgetown, Mass., six miles 
from jhis sister in Rowley. Both continued useful, 
happ.y, and healthy until the Avinter of 1846. Both 
were, seized about the same time with violent colds 
and ^inflammation of the lungs. The disease in 
bot^'i cases proved incurable. It ran into consump- 
tioij'i, that insatiable destroyer of the adult members 
^ipmj family, and took them both away. Cornelia 
fe.iled the faster of the two. She died on the first 
^ij July, 1846. She had rare gifts of mind and 
hf 3art. She had in a remarkable degree the power 
^j^f. adaptation. Though brilliant in conversation, 
hiolding her place well in the society of the most 



BEY. EKOCH POND, B. D. 121 

cultivated minds, ready in argument, of which she 
was fond, and quick at repartee, she gained the 
affection and confidence of the simplest of the 
working-people about her, and there was uni- 
versal mourning at her grave. She left a husband 
and four little children. The ties that bound 
her to life were strong, but her last hours 
were peace. She retained her reason till the 
last breath, and seemed wholly raised above the 
world and absorbed in the visions of eternity. 

In a letter to an absent child, my father at this time 
wrote : — 

Our dear Cornelia is no more with ns. She has left 
a dear circle of weeping friends^ but she has gone to 
join a glorious circle of friends in heaven. 

Above all; she has gone to be with her Saviour, the 
light, the sun, the joy, and glory of the upper world. 
I feel that our loss is unspeakably great. A vacancy is 
made which can never in this life be filled. But she, 
the dear child, has gained more than we have lost. She 
has the victory and gained the cro\\Ti. It is dark and 
distressing to us now, but it is all plain to God and he 
will make it plain to us. Let us say then with the 
Psalmist : " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in 
him.'' 

Enoch came home to Maine in the spring. As he parted 
witl^his sister on leaving, she said, with a smile: ''We 
shall meet again soon," and so it was. Settled at the age 
of twenty-two, his work and care were undoubtedly too 
much for him. He could not be satisfied to labor without 
results ; and, though possessed of the love and confidence 
of his people, he sought most earnestly for a higher stand- 
ard of piety for them, and for the wakening of their 



122 A MEMORIAL OF 

consciences to see duty more clearly. A few words in an 
early letter reveal his desire : • — 

'' I long for more stability and active piety in the mem- 
bers of my church." "A praying church is a minister's 
greatest blessing. I hope the man at the helm is not 
instrumentall}^ too weak for his post, but I sometimes fear 
it. I know I must be humble and patient, and trust in 
the Lord, and wait upon Him in the appointed way ; and I 
try to do so, yet sometimes I fear my labor is in vain. I 
earnestly desire your prayers, my dearest father, for my 
greater faithfulness and success." 

A neglected cold, over-confidence in a strong constitu- 
tion, unwillingness to give, up his chosen work, led on to 
fixed disease. It was a painless sickness except that weari- 
ness, fever, and chills are distressing. ** There is nothing 
the matter with me but this cough," he often said. There 
was no dread or fear of death. He died at Bucksport, 
December 17, 1846, aged twenty-six. He left one child, 
a daughter; her beautiful life was cut off" by the same dis- 
ease, and at the same age with that of her father. 

These losses were deeply felt. We who have lived to see 
our father in his physical weakness unable to restrain his 
emotions, can realize how very tender his affections were, 
and how strong his feelings in times of bereavement. But 
in his earlier years there was no outward sign of anguish; 
onl}^ we noticed in the family prayers a more entire casting 
of all care on God, and delighting in His will. ^' The will of 
the Lord be done." ^' God never makes a mistake." 

My second son, William, was graduated at the 
Theological Seminary, and was ordained as an 
evangelist in August, 1852. At that time I was 
laid up by a fit of sickness, and unable to take any 
part or attend at his ordination. This was a great 
trial, but I remembered '' the Lord reigns," and 
submitted to his holy will. My son left New York 



BEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 123 

9 

in a clipper ship for San Francisco, with his bride, 
Mrs. Caroline WoodhuU Pond, in November, and 
arrived in San Francisco the last of February, 
1853. I little expected ever to see him again ; 
but the good providence of God has restored him 
to me twice, in the course of twenty years. 

Our father had several seasons of sickness during the last 
thirty years of his life, one of which was very severe. But 
when symptoms of great danger appeared he manifested 
no surprise or anxiety ; instead of these, there Avere quiet- 
ness, self-possession, and cheerfulness even. '• Have you 
not yet exhausted your mercies, Dr. Pond?" asked his 
physician one day, when he had been some time in attend- 
ance upon him. '' You have a new one to recount every 
morning." This unrepining, self-forgetting spirit, waiting 
ever on the Lord, doubtless aided in his recovery. 

My son Jeremiah Evarts became a minister, and 
was first settled in Neenah, Wis. He was married 
in 1857 to Miss Jeanie W. Baird, of Portsmouth, 
Ohio; a daughter greatly beloved, who passed 
early away, in 1871. My son, in 1874, married 
Miss Lj^dia Hoadly. He has returned to preach 
in Maine. 

In 1859, my daughter Mary married George 
Blodget, of Bucksport, Maine, where she still re- 
sides ; and my youngest son, Benjamin Wisner, 
was settled in Barton, Vt. He married Mary, 
daughter of Professor Newman, of Brunswick. 
He is now one of the examiners of patents, in 
Washington, D. C. One daughter remains with 
me to be a comfort and blessing. The Lord re- 
ward and bless her. 



124 A MEMORIAL O^ 

My father was eminently social. His conversational 
powers, his gift at story-telling, his native humor, his tact 
in avoiding unpleasing topics, his fondness for young people, 
made him a favorite in every family of his acquaintance. 
Said a daughter of one of those good deacons in Maine, who 
in the old times kept a minister's home : ^' We used to have 
a great many ministers stopping at our home for one or 
more days and nights; some we liked, some we avoided, 
some we were indifferent to. But when Professor Pond 
came, we were alwaj^s glad. There were stories and good 
cheer, but no solemn words, no reproving looks; yet we 
w^ere always better and happier for his presence." My 
father journeyed far and wide in Maine, presenting the 
cause of the Seminary to individuals and churches, going 
with his own horse usually, and returning on Monday, for 
''Sabbath-day journeys " were not then so long as they are 
now allowed to be. As I was the feeble one of the flock, 
I was indulged in the ride with father. I was so small 
he often threatened to put me in his pocket over Sunday, 
yet I well understood the hearty welcome he everywhere 
received, and how for his sake the puny child was cared for 
also. 

There was a certain dignity about him w^hich prevented 
great familiarity ; and a gentleness and courtesy of manner 
and speech which won the goodwill of the ignorant. His 
sympathy and respect for the poor and unfortunate made 
him a joyful giver, not only of money and immediate aid, 
but of valuable time and good counsel, devising schemes 
for better relief by making them able to help themselves. 
He used to say : '' Pity costs nothing, money is easily given, 
but to think for others is a gift indeed." He appreciated 
the value of what was done for him very highly, and when- 
he paid for labor done, his frequent criticism was : "I don't 
think you have asked enough." By all classes in society 
my father was loved and honored. He once said, near the 
close of life : '' There is one command of our Lord's I can- 
not obey ; ' Forgive your enemies ' ; for I don't know that 



REY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 125 

I have an enemy in the world. If I have a secret enemy, 
I freely forgive him." It was not my father's habit to talk 
much on personal religion with the unconverted, unless they 
sought for such conversation. He never preached out of 
the pulpit, and of his many stories I remember hardly one 
which was used to "point a moral." Even to his children 
he rarely spoke on that subject, which we knew was nearest 
his heart, — our own conversion. We knew, without his 
speaking, what he most desired us to be. We were taught 
by his life what a Christian life was. We heard his petitions 
at the family altar. His silence and reserve on those solemn 
themes — our own sinful state and our need of a Saviour — 
were more eloquent than words could have been. The 
never-to-be-forgotten words with which, two or three times, 
he may have pressed upon us eternal truth and duty, are too 
sacred to be revealed. They were unusual, effective, and 
full of the Spirit. An absent son, writing to him on his 
ninetieth birthday, expresses the same idea: ''I do not 
remember the time, my dear father, in my earliest boyhood 
Avhen the impression was not made upon my heart, 'My 
father is a good man, a man of God, and I must become 
such a man as -he is.' My life, I well know, did not show 
then the power of such impressions; but that impression 
was there, and it has borne fruit in later years. Your love 
of studj^, and your patient and unremitting devotion to your 
work, have been an inciteuient to me in my chosen work; 
and I am glad I can point my children to your example of 
industry, and of cheerful and earnest piety, as a model for 
them.'' A friend who was in our family a great deal writes 
thus of my father : *' His facility in turning from one thing 
to another as occasion required ; his passing from the study 
to look after some domestic affair, and then back to resume 
his book or pen, was a rare trait. Was not his cheerful 
meeting each event and each demand upon him evidence of 
that faith in a constant ordering of all things by God? His 
devotion to your mother, in those long years of her blind- 
ness, declared the true gentleman and the true j)iety that 



126 A MEMORIAL OF 

is sure to show itself at home. The law of kindness was 
on his lips ; and ' whatever his hand found to do he did it 
with his might.' " 

A long absent friend in Germany writes: ^' I suppose 
infirmities may have dimmed for him the joys of earth; but 
as his chief delight was to do the will of God, whatever 
were the occupations of liis last years, we may be sure 
he rejoiced in them in spite of all privations and afflictions. 
I have often recalled his sunny temper, and fondness for 
work, and large trust in the wisdom and love of God, 
with astonishment. It is so easy for most of us to fret, to 
be anxious, to let an opportunity for doing good go by, 
and to be lazy ! The thought of so much accomplished 
brings with it the remembrance of his systematic industry 
prompted \)y principle. Many lives that have been stim- 
ulated by his teaching and example will testify, at the last, 
to the rock-like type of, his piety. He was never a builder 
upon sand." 

From another young friend, who had been much in our 
family, and whose real heroism my father greatlj^' admired, 
came these words : — 

"What a beautiful and blessed thing to have had all your 
life a father to love and honor. And all the time it is run- 
ning through my head, ' And he was not, for God took him.' 
The kind words he spoke and the deeds which he did come 
up one after another, through the many years I have known 
him. Once he said to me : *" Well, Fannie, if you are not one 
of the children, I don't know where the difference is.' I was 
so pleased and proud at the time, and it has always been 
a very tender memory, because I knew the affection was 
sure to last, and I meant to be worthy of it.'' 

One long associated with my father in the Seminary 
writes : '' I feel that I have lost a very dear friend. Whe:i 
I first went to Bangor he received us at his house ; and his 
kindness, magnanimity, and bright and cheerful spirit 
endeared him to me at once, and my love for him grew, the 
longer 1 knew him. 



REY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 127 

" He has been a man abundant in Christian work all his 
life. The amount he has published has been very great, 
and a very large proportion of his published volumes 
have been widely circulated and much read. I have long 
felt that the churches in Maine are indebted to him for 
great services rendered them; and his influence has 
reached far beyond that State. I am thankful to God 
for his long, active, useful life. For him we can none 
of us ever be sorry he is gone ; for his work was done, and 
he was so shut out, by his infirmities, from the active world, 
that it must be with special delight he finds himself young 
and vigorous again, able to enter upon his Master's work. 
What will that work be? How strange it all is! " 

In 1874, my wife died. We had lived happily 
together for thirty-five years, and though afflicted 
with many infirmities, and for the last years of 
her life totally blind, she was an affectionate wife, 
an efficient helper in the training of the children, 
in providing for them, and bearing with me the 
cares and burdens of life. About six years before 
her death, we perceived cataract forming in both 
eyes. She submitted to an operation, which was 
unsuccessful, and she became entirely blind. She 
suffered more or less through our whole married 
life from neuralgia, moving from one part of the 
body to another. At last it reached the heart. 
She had several spasms from this form of heart- 
disease ; and from one, which occurred on the 
morning of the fifth of September, she did not 
recover. She had but a moment's knowledge that 
she was dying and made a great effort to say 
''Good-by, all." She was buried at Mt. Hope 
Cemetery, on the eighth of September. There, 



128 A MEMOKIAL OF 

with other loved ones, she rests, awaiting the 
resurrection of the just. We shall never forget 
her. I expect soon to follow her. 

As we closed the long-sightless eyes, my father said: 
''Thank God she did not live to find me dead! " 

" She has gone first, 
Never to know the loneliness of parting 
With him who was her earthly stay; 
Who gently led her down even to the brink 
Of the dark river, and there bade her 
Farewell, and gave her hand to Jesus." 

About the time I was seventy years old, I began 
to be seriously troubled with deafness. This deaf- 
ness was partly an inherited disease, and came on 
very gradually. It did not for years prevent my 
attending to my recitations at the Seminary, nor 
interfere with other duties. I wanted those who 
addressed me to speak distinctly, but without rais- 
ing the voice. The loss of hearing is indeed a 
great loss, the greatest perhaps next to loss of 
sight, yet not without its compensations. My 
mother, who for years was afflicted with deafness 
used to say to those who pitied her, " I get rid of 
hearing avast amount of nonsense." Not only so, 
but the deaf escape hearing many disagreeable 
noises and sounds. Nature in its flitting course 
has many unpleasant sounds. The noise of them 
the deaf escape. It was this infirmity which 
hastened my resignation of Church History, in 
1881, being then in my eighty-fourth year. Since 
the death of my two children Cornelia and Enoch, 
there has been no death among them. They still 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 129 

remain to me, with many grandchildren, and some 
of the next generation. 

As I look back over my past history as a hus- 
band and father, though I have been often and 
sorely smitten, I feel I have much occasion to 
speak of the goodness and mercy of the Lord. 
Few have been so much blessed in their matrimo- 
nial connections. To have had three Avives given 
me in succession, each of whom I esteem as 
among tlie loveliest and best of her sex, is a pre- 
cious gift. My children, too, have all been, and 
are, good and affectionate children. The departed 
ones are, I fully believe, in Heaven. I love to 
think of those who died in early childhood, as 
away from me at school, — the best school in the 
Universe, where they have the best teachers, and 
are learning the best things in the best possible 
manner. I expect erelong to go and see them — 
see what progress they .have made and to what 
heights of glory they are ultimately destined. 
For I think it not unlikely that, among the 
brightest spirits that surround the throne, may be 
found many, at the last, who have left this world 
in infancy. 

My six surviving children are an honor and 
comfort to me. Some of them are filling respon- 
sible positions in the church. Those of my grand- 
children who have come to years of discretion 
are, I trust, walking in the steps of their parents 
and ancestors. The eldest (living), Dr. Edwin 
Parker, of Hartford, Conn., is a distinguished 
minister of the Gospel. With such a family as 



130 A MEMORIAL OF 

this, part of it in Heaven, the other part a joy and 
comfort to me on earth, who has more cause of 
gratitude than I ? Who, with more reason, can 
call upon his soul to bless and praise the name of 
the Lord for all his goodness. 

As to myself, having now passed my eighty- 
fourth birthday, I feel my time that remains on 
earth is short. Though I am now in very good 
health, retaining most of my faculties of bodj^ and 
mind, yet I know that I am nearing a great crisis, 
and should be in constant readiness for my final 
change. I thank God that it has no terrors for 
me. I can look forward to it without dismay. 
Christ is the- foundation of all my hopes, and, rest- 
ing on Him, I know my building can never fall. 

The last written of the Autobiography. September, 1875. 
Bangor, Maine. 



EEV. E:N OCR POND, D. D. 131 



CHAPTER XI. 

LAST YEAES, DEATH, AKD BURIAL. 

" Persons who hare lived heroic Christian lives, often set in death as 
silently as the stars sot iu the horizon; and they leave no testimony 
whatever on the deathbed. Their lives are their testimony. They are 
the best testim.ony any one can leave behind him. Ilis life when he is 
under temptation; when he is bearing burdens; when the battle is high; 
how he acquits himself; what is his whole character, and what are the 
fruits and results of his living; what these are, is a great deal better 
testimony than any other." —H. ^V. Beecher. 

Seven years of our father's life remain unrecorded by 
his pen. They were prayerful, trusting^ quiet, but not 
idle years. " I cannot be happy to do nothing '^ was 
a frequent remark. I think he expected and desired 
a sudden death, but always, "as the Lord appoints. 
If it be his will that I should be laid aside, useless and 
a burden, for a long time, I hope I can bear it patiently, 
but I would rather die with the harness on.'' Several 
short journeys were made during these years. One 
in the summer of 1877, to St. Stephen, IST. B., which 
he enjoyed very much. Two short visits were made 
in Massachusetts, when he went to the old homestead 
and looked upon the scenes of his childhood. At the 
time of his last visit there, he prepared, and read to an 
assembly of old friends, "The Ecclesiastical History 
of, Wrentham," afterwards published in "The Congre- 
gational Quarterly Review," 1878. His last visits were 
made with his children in Warren, Belfast, and Bucks- 
port, Maine, in the summer of 1879. His love of home 
was very strong, and he was never quite happy away 
from his accustomed place. He was almost severe in his 
judgment of those who felt a change of air and place 



132 A MEMORIAL OF 

necessary to them every season, insisting it was 
"fashion/' not health, they pursued ; yet usually adding, 
in an apologetic tone, "I don't care, however, if they 
will let me stay at home.'' " Locality," as phrenology 
terms it, was largely developed in our father's mental 
constitution. His methodical tendencies made a routine 
agreeable to him, and necessary to rapid work. His 
habits were formed when much was to be accomplished, 
and when the time of work was over, these habits 
remained fixed. He never attempted the achievement 
of any work without a plan; and the plan, once care- 
fully formed, was closely adhered to. A leading 
characteristic of his mind was that, having examined 
a subject thoroughly, and formed an opinion concerning 
it, he could not admit of a doubt. This was frequently 
an advantage; sometimes a disadvantage. 

During the last years, our father's life varied little in 
its routine. Those who were with him studied to con- 
form to it as far as possible, and to prevent any pressure 
of circumstances breaking in upon it. He never rose 
before the sun, having as little faith in morning candles 
as in midnight oil. The open fire, whicli burned on our 
sitting-room hearth nearly twelve months in the year, 
was his first care. This adjusted, breakfast followed; 
a simple meal, but eaten always with good zest, having 
the blessing of God on it. Cheerfulness sat at the table 
with us, and often ^TijQtj) for we always had some 
young folks there. Among our father's homely counsels 
was this: "If you rise in the morning out of sorts, 
melancholy, or cross, come to breakfast with a smile on 
your face, even if it be forced, and make some one else 
smile. Before 3^ou know it, your heart will be full of 
good cheer, and care driven to the winds. '^ The 
morning prayers followed. Father read in course; 



EEV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 133 

the Old Testament in the mornings the !N"ew Testament 
at night. He used, generally, a form of prayer, slightly 
varied; but the appropriate petitions and well-chosen 
language did not grow cold or formal. There was 
a good deal of thanksgiving in these prayers — and 
confession, submission, dependence. The absent ones, 
cliildren, grandchildren, friends, were gathered in the 
arms of faith and brought to the Lord for a blessing. 
The kingdom of Christ, its increase and glory, was 
always sought for, and in the name, and for the ^^dear 
E,edeemer's sake,'' all was offered and asked. 

The morning hours were often spent in the study, but 
head and hand were frequently rested; in winter to 
renew the fire, in summer to work in the garden. Our 
father had a great love of gardening, and a pride in the 
growth and perfection of his shrubs and vines. His 
tulip-bed, where each flower vied with the others in 
brilliant or delicate colors, was his pet in early summer. 
His corn and small forest of bean-poles, his pride in the 
later months. No ^^ envious weed'' was allowed to 
reach mature growth. He used to say: ^^ Weeds are 
like sin in the human heart ; spontaneous of growth 
and hard to kill out *' ; and when his hoe was cutting 
off chickweed and purslane, no doubt the inward con- 
test was with pride and selfishness. 

A refreshing nap in that easy chair, which had 
^^ a vast amount of sleep in it," prepared him to meet 
and enjoy friends v/ho might call ; or to walk out with 
measured tread and leaning on his cane, as befitted his 
more than fourscore years. A friend once remarked 
on the evident pleasure with which he walked about our 
beautiful Seminary grounds, '' He remembers how David 
said : ' Walk about Zion, and go round about her ; tell 
the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks ; con- 
sider her palaces.' " 



134 A MEMORIAL OF 

Father sometimes said : " I have the best pair of eyes 
the Lord ever made/^ and the gift was faithfully used. 
The morning and the evening Avere his times of reading. 
Writing, either of letters or for the press, or revision 
of previous writings, employed the time during the fore- 
noon in the study ; but our father accomplished a vast 
amount of reading. Increasing deafness removed him, 
in a measure, from social life, and he found companion- 
ship in books. Within these last years, he has selected 
from the Seminary library a large array of well-chosen 
books — books old and new. I should say largely his- 
torical and biographical, — the lives and labors of the 
fathers of the early church — of the early English 
Church ; and of late biographies, which have been so 
abundant and delightful, he has hardly missed one. 
I used to think, as I saw him so absorbed in the story 
of the lives of those holy men who had passed on to the 
other shore, that he was preparing himself to join this 
company, and meant to be no stranger to them ; just as 
one going to a foreign land studies about the country 
to which he journeys, and the history and character of 
the illustrious people whom he is to meet there. Father 
was a great reader of religious newspapers and period- 
icals, and Avrote for them till the last year of his life. 
He never destroyed a religious paper. Early in each 
week, six or eight were wrapped and directed by liis 
own hand, and mailed, to do good service in other homes. 
The last book that father read, except the Bible, was 
a " Memoir of Dr. Joel Hawes.'' He had read it before, 
but expressed fresh pleasure in this tribute to his life- 
long friend and college classmate. My father enjoyed 
his friends and their calls upon him very much. His 
love of the young seemed to increase with his years, and 
he appreciated their attentions and affection, He loved 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 135 

to see their happy faces when he did not hear their 
voices. '^1 like to see her talk, her eyes flash so, and 
she is in such earnest/' he used to say of a grand- 
daughter. Two or three grandchildren were always 
with him, and he especially enjoyed them, having '^ all 
the pleasure and none of the responsibility.'^ His 
affectionate interest and generosity toward them was 
unfailing, and they received more than any transient 
gift, — the influence of his life and example. 

But when some more mature friend sat near his '' best 
ear,'' speaking slowly and clearly, bringing out the 
consonant sounds forcibly, and following out a train of 
thought and conversation, the correctness of judgment 
of men and things, the nice distinctions he was capable 
of making, the quickness and originality of thought 
shown in his replies, and the force of his expression, was 
almost equal to his prime. 

My father loved the house of God. Though for two 
or three years unable to understand the words of prayer 
or sermon, he loved to see the faces of his brethren and 
sisters, to feel that he was still one of them, to exchange 
greetings with them, and to unite, as far as possible, 
with them in their worship. He felt it a duty thus to 
honor the institution of public worship, which be 
believed to be a divine institution. He felt his example 
was worth something ; that perhaps a careless neighbor 
seeing him, a deaf man, so much set on going to church, 
might be influenced by curiosity or conscience to go 
also. Sitting in the silence amid the swelling tones 
of psalm or prayer, I doubt not his thoughts ascended 
from these " lower courts " to that great congregation, 
where, no longer a voiceless witness, he should be a 
rejoicing hearer and singer among the alleluias of 
heaven. The interests of the church, of which he had 



136 A MEMORIAL OF 

been a member forty-nine years^ were very dear to him. 
He gave liberally toward its support and to the benev- 
olent causes there presented. He sought at all times 
its peace and purity, and was faithful to his covenant 
vows. What he was to his pastor^ Rev. S. P. Fay, now 
of Dorchester, Mass., who for thirteen years stood in 
that relation to him, Avill tell : — 

He was so much to me in the thirteen years (=f my life 
in Bangor ; I have come to esteem hiui so highly as a noble 
Christian man and sincere friend, that were I still his pastor 
I could find no words to express my sense of loss at his 
death. Almost every week I saw him in his happy home. 
Almost every Sabbath for thhteen years I looked upon his 
devout and earnest face, as he sat in that first pew, in his 
sincere worship of Ids God. He was a model parishioner. 
I never shall forget how wisely and kindly he looked upon 
my imperfections ; and how encouragingly he used to 
speak to me; and how devoutly he used to pray for me; 
how sincerely he rejoiced in every gain to his dear Lord, in 
the church. In a word, he had all those virtues which 
made hiin a rare treasure to any minister, and a rich bless- 
ing to any church. 

And then what a genial friend he was ! How young he 
kept his heart ! How he loved a good story ! What a merry 
ring his laugh had ! It is rare to find so admirable a temper, 
and so kind a heart, and so large a brain, and so devoted a 
piety, in one and the same man. He never sent any one 
away with a sad heart. To the poor he was a benefactor; 
to the rich an example. His piety went hand in hand with 
his generosity, and he always thanked God for the oppor- 
tunity to do good. He seemed to have gained a perfect 
submission to the will of God; a serene and undisturbed 
joy under afflictions and disappointments ; a bright example 
of Christian purity and growth. The last time I ever saw 
the dear old man, he was in his ninetieth year, reading the 
proof-sheets of his last book. His piety, humility, and 



REY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 137 

love appeared most attractive in those last days of his 
whitened locks. For him to live was Christ. To work for 
his Master was his '' loved employ," and he did this work 
up to the time his Master called him. 

The last Sabbath in November, 1881, was the last 
time father filled his accustomed seat at the church. I 
do not think he supposed it to be the last. It was no 
more difficult for him to descend from his carriage or 
ascend the stairs and walk to his pew, than it had been 
for several weeks. But we saw the end was near ; even 
those who only noted the increasing feebleness of his 
handwriting took the alarm. This is evident in a 
letter from his son in San Francisco. He writes to his 
father : — 

But your handwriting speaks to me far more forcibly 
than the words it conveys. I feel as though jour eldest 
living son's strong arms ought now to be under you; and I 
can hardh^ bear to be away so far. In heaven, it may be, 
you will be nearer to me than you can be shut up close in 
the house in Bangor. But to feel you were not there ; that 
I could not write to you, — you cannot think what a void it 
would make and the sense of privilege I should lose. It 
comes to me, as never before, in your letter written, almost 
for the first time, with a hand that told of enfeeblement and 
old age. God bless you, dear father, and make each day ^ 
little sunnier than the day before, till he shall take you 
easily and sweetly to himself. Your loving son, 

WILLIAM. 

Father's last letter was written to his old friend Rev. 
Stephen Thurston, of Searsport, who for a very long 
time had been feeble in mind and body. It was written 
with great difficulty, but from regard to Dr. Thurston's 
earnest wish, he attempted the task. It concludes thus : 
^^What the Lord means to do with me, I do not know, 
nor am I anxious. I am in the best hands in the 



138 A MEMORIAL OF 

universe, and there I desire to lie submissive and happy. 
I trust you feel and enjoy the same. I love you and 
honor your memory. May you be faithful unto death, 
and obtain the crown of life. I am tired. My work on 
earth is done ; but I know I love God my Saviour, and 
I expect to go and dwell forever with him.^' 

The following description of the beautiful old age of Dr. 
Hodge, of Princeton, is also an accurate delineation of our 
father's life as it drew to a close; '^ Though he was gener- 
ally well, he was weak and often weary. Though he was 
beautiful, it was the wasting beauty of the autumn leaf. 
Though he reclined with an unwavering mind and confidence 
on a supernatural hope, his spirit and life were eminently 
natural. Though he had no fear, he had no desire, to die. 
He looked beyond the world, rather than rose entirely above 
it. His interest in all human things was genuine and strong, 
and his cheerfulness was never-failing, 3^et often tinged 
with a pathetic wistfulness, arising from an habitual sense 
of the imminence of his own departure." 

After the thirtieth of December, 1882, father's failure 
was rapid, but he was cheerful and entirely free from 
suffering, except that which was caused by weariness. 
Saturday afternoon, on the thirtieth of December, Pro- 
fessor Sewall sat with him a short time, and he spoke 
of the hopes of the future life. Father said, with a great 
deal of emphasis : ^' I cannot have any doubts about the 
future. I think I know I am a friend of God. I love 
him. I submit to his will. I love his service and his 
people." 

Dr. Lyman Beecher, my father's dear and early 
friend, said to his daughter, when he was eighty-five 
years old : " Harriet, I have been reviewing my 
evidences. I have been putting the question to myself 
just as I would to a newly converted person, or press it 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 139 

on a sinner ; and I have come to the conclusion, I have 
a right to hope.'^ 

January 8, 1882, was the Sabbath day. In the 
morning, father conducted family worship. He read 
from the fourteenth chapter of John, stopping at the 
fifteenth verse. It was with difficulty he read, and it 
was the last time. That morning he closed his Bible 
forever. He was, through the day, more wakeful than 
usual, and sat in his accustomed seat at the front 
window watching the people going to and returning 
from church. He talked very little, but was quiet and 
sweet. Remarking his silence, one asked if he were 
troubled about anything. ^^ Nothing, nothing; don't 
think I am unhappy because I don't talk," he replied. 
He prayed with us on that evening, for the last time. 
He retired early, but had a disturbed night. From this 
time his days were wearisome and his nights broken ; 
perplexed with dreams so vivid he could scarcely 
believe they were dreams. One night he is settling 
a church quarrel; another, discussing some difficult 
theological points ; again, he is laboring in a season 
of revival in some church, or offering a prayer at 
a communion table. It seemed as if his mind, now 
unrestrained by the feeble body, returned in its 
freedom to the old tracks of thought and action. At 
times he lost his consciousness of place, and imagined 
himself away from home. His appeals to us to take 
him home wrung our hearts. But this passed soon, 
and there came back to his bewildered soul a full 
recognition of the beloved room where he had spent so 
much of his life. One said to him : " You shall always 
have this home till you go to your heavenly home. Do 
you fear or dread that change ? " '' Xo," he replied, 
" no fear, no dread ! " The tide of life was flowing out. 



140 A MEMORIAL OF 

No filial love could detain him. As absent children 
gathered about him, he recognized them and had a 
pleasant word for all, but expressed no surprise. 

On the evening of January 19 (Thursday), he had a 
heavy chill. It was the beginning of the end. Though 
he spoke to us Friday morning, he could only with 
difficulty be roused from the sleep that had fallen upon 
him. Friday night the sleep became heavier ; there 
was no pressure of recognition from his hand — no 
response to the voice he heard best and loved most. 
All night we watched him, as he lay asleep with no 
sign of life, except the short hurried breathing, and till 
noon on Saturday, when, without awaking, the change 
came, and the pure and happy sj)irit was in the presence 
of God. 0, to follow it, and witness the joy of the 
wakening ! But the door closed. It was but a going 
to sleep and waking beyond — to be '^ forever with the 
Lord.'^ Death, so long anticipated, was left behind 
forever ; mortality was swallowed up of life. 

The tolling of the Seminary chapel bell made known 
the death of Dr. Pond to his many friends all over the 
city. Sorrow was mingled with thanksgiving, that to 
their honored friend an entrance had been given to 
that ^^city which hath foundations,'' whither through 
the long pilgrim life his feet had been tending. 

The funeral services were at the Hammond Street 
Church, on Tuesday afternoon, January 24. The pulpit, 
the organ, and Dr. Pond's pew in the church, were 
draped in mourning. A beautiful bunch of calla-lilies 
in front of the pulpit, drooped over the casket, which 
rested in front of the altar. On the right of the altar 
was a cross, composed of tea-roses ; on the left a column 
of ivy ; a sheaf of ripened wheat and a wreath of ivy 
lay on the casket. Funeral services were opened by 



HEV. Ei^OCH l*OKD, B. D. 141 

the singing of the hjmn, '' Give me the wings of 
faith to rise," by the Seminary quartette. Selections 
of Scripture were read by Professor Paine, after which 
the hymn '' Art thou weary ? " was sung. Professor 
J. S. Sewall made an address, speaking of the life, 
character, and death of the deceased, praising God for 
having made our departed friend what he was. Pev. 
G. W. Field offered a prayer of such fervency and 
eloquence, that it seemed like an inspiration. A closing 
hymn, ^^ Father, rest from sin and sorrow,'^ was sung, 
and the benediction pronounced. Friends gathered 
to take a farewell look at the face so well known and 
beloved. 

In the cemetery of Mount Hope his body was laid 
under the snow, there to rest till the dawn of the morn- 
ing of resurrection, when it shall come forth a glorious 
body, fit dwelling for the purified spirit. 

'' It doth not yet appear what we shall be : but we 
know when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for 
we shall see Him as he is." 



142 A MEMORIAL 01^ 



ADDEESS AT THE EUNEEAL OE DE. POND. 

BY PROFESSOR JOHJS^ S. SEWALL, D. D. 

There are crises in our experience when life is measured 
by events rather than by the flight of time. At such 
periods we discover how near the visible and material 
parts of life are to the unseen, and how in our common- 
place duties we are treading on the verge of eternity. 
Such a crisis has come to this family, who are to-day 
called upon to bring forth their dead to the burial. 
Such a crisis has come to our Seminary, to-day bereaved 
of one whose history for a half a century is its history, 
and every fibre of whose life has been braided into its 
progress, and struggles, and triumphs. 

This is not the place for a eulogy upon our venerable 
father who has gone up from us. We have gathered, 
a company of friends, neighbors, and fellow-citizens, to 
do homage to his memory; and we instinctively feel 
that the most fitting honor we can render is to praise, 
not him, but God, who made him what he was. We 
thank God, therefore, for that original endowment of 
active mental energies which so well equipped our 
revered instructor and friend for his laborious life. We 
thank God for the courage, the patience, the hopeful 
spirit, which carried him over so many obstacles, and 
lighted his way through so many dark hours. We 
thank God for the practical wisdom, the sagacity, the 
cordial interest, and parental tenderness, which guided 
the Seminary out of its early discouragements into a 
position of honorable usefulness and assured success ; 
which developed its inner life not into a sort of 



REV. ENOCH POND, D. D. 143 

monastic seclusion, but into the cordial relations of 
family affection ; which made his pupils rely upon him 
not simply for instruction, but for counsel and 
sympathy ; and which widened his Christian philan- 
thropy beyond the circle of his home, beyond the 
Seminary, the city, or the State, and give him a keen 
interest in all that might help forward the kingdom of 
Christ in any part of the world. 

It was given to this man to live two lives, each a 
complete and well-rounded career in itself. If he had 
been taken away at the end of the first, men would 
have said that his long pastorate and the years of 
editorial toil which followed had already filled out the 
measure of a useful life. But instead, the call of the 
Lord transferred him to this other sphere, and here fifty 
years more awaited him, of equal laboriousness, and of 
still more signal usefulness. And during this busy 
half century how deep his roots have gone down into 
the life of the Seminary, into the community, into the 
churches. We honor him for what he was ; but we 
honor Christanity more, w^hich makes such a character 
possible. 

In such hours as this we stand in the presence of 
realities: God, heaven, immortality, are real. Who can 
stand by the dead, and, surrounded by those emblems 
which show the true significance of life, deny that there 
is a personal, loving Father in heaven? Who can 
watch the steady maturing of a character in all that is 
good and honest and true, and think for a moment that 
all that slow accumulation of the best and noblest in 
the human soul is forever quenched in the grave? Our 
logic may fail us. It is easy to doubt. But the 
demonstration of a righteous life sweeps away our 
sophisms, and we know in whom we have believed. 



144 A MEMOBIAL OF 

Young men of the Seminary, here is the triie argument 
of the preacher. 

Our thoughts rise to-day to follow him who was risen 
into the presence of his Saviour. What a welcome has 
greeted him there ! While we on earth surround his 
dust with these emblems of mourning, we can well 
imagine the acclamations of joy with which the 
immortal spirit is received into the shining ranks above. 
I stood on the steps of the Court House in Boston, and 
witnessed the return of a Massachusetts regiment 
from the war — a meagre fragment of it, coming 
home travel-stained and battle-stained ; and with the 
thousands around me I too wept and cheered by turns. 
But the welcome would have been just the same had I 
not been there to share it, would have been the same 
had I never known of it. So to-da}^, though we see it 
not, I believe the welcome is just as certain which 
greets the soldiers of the Lord's host on earth who are 
summoned to lay their armor by, and return home to 
the courts of the great King. And we can dimly 
imagine with what wondrous endearments this our 
venerable father has already been received into the 
company of the redeemed, and how the friends of his 
youth and of his prime are gathering around to welcome 
him to the joys of the Eternal City. The message which 
came over the wires this morning from the distant son 
in California, '^ Amen ! The chariot of Israel and the 
horsemen thereof ! '' may well find an echo in all our 
hearts ; and not in ours only, but in the hearts of all the 
redeemed on earth, as they hear of one another of their 
number returning home to heaven. Amen ! so be it ! 
The Judge of all the earth doeth right. And the shout 
is caught up by the minstering spirits in the air, and 
by the hosts of the saints above, and is echoed from 



EEV. ENOCH PO:tTD, D. D. 145 

company to company : Amen ! so be it ! Servant of God, 
well done ! Eest now from thy labors, and enter thou 
into the joy of thy Lord. 

A request was made to the children of Dr. Pond, 
that the pupils, friends, and fellow-citizens of their 
revered and beloved father might share in the erection 
of a suitable monument to mark his grave. " Thus we 
wish to commemorate an honored life, which for half a 
century was pre-eminent among us for piety, philan- 
thropy, and useful service, not only to the Seminary but 
also to the City of Bangor.^' 

Such a monument has been erected in the family 
burying-place in Mount Hope Cemetery. It bears this 
inscription : — 

ENOCH POND, D. D. 

BORN IN WRENTHAM, MASS. 
DIED IN BANGOR, ME. 

January 21, 1881. Aged 91 years. 

For Fifty Years Professor in Bangor Theological Seminary. 

"My Father! My Father! The Chariot 
Of Israel and the Horsemen Thereof." 

Erected by the Alumni of the Seminary, and other friends. 

My father used a form of prayer in the family worship 
morning and evening. At our request he wrote out some 
years ago his evening prayer. It is this : — 

Our Father who art in heaven, we humbly bow 
before thee this evening, that we may offer to thee 
our evening sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. 
Thou hast mercifully spared us another day. 
Thou hast added another day to our forfeited 
lives. We thank thee for all the mercies of the 



146 A MEMORIAL OF 

day. Thou hast supplied our wants : thou hast 
blessed us in our undertakings; thou hast pre- 
served us from accident and evil, from sickness 
and death ; thou hast brought us to the close of 
the day, rejoicing in the goodness and mercy of 
the Lord. And now, O God, we implore thy 
blessing and protection through the darkness and 
silence of the night. May we lay ourselves down 
and sleep in quiet ; may all danger and evil sleep 
around us ; and in the morning may we awake 
refreshed and invigorated to enter on the duties 
of another day. And thus wilt thou be with us 
through all the remaining days of our lives. 
Whether many or few, may they all be spent in 
thy service and to thy glory. May we do with 
our might whatever our hands find to do in every 
work of faith and labor of love, that when our 
time on earth is spent, and we are called away, 
having nothing more to do or suffer here below, 
we may have an abundant entrance administered 
to us into the everlasting kingdom and joy of our 
Lord. 

We look to thee, O Lord, for the pardon of our 
many sins. We pray for an interest in thy favor 
which is life, and thy loving kindness which is 
better than life. May thy blessing rest upon this 
household. May all the members of this family 
belong to thine own family, and be heirs together 
of the grace of life. 

Wilt thou be gracious to all those who should 
be remembered in our evening prayer — dear 
absent relatives and friends ? wilt thou be near and 



KEY. ENOCH POND, D. D. 147 

gracious unto them ? Watch over them in mercy 
and bless them as they individually need. Bless 
the church of which we are members, and pour 
out thy Spirit upon it, and may many be added to 
it "of such as shall be saved." Remember a 
world lying in wickedness, and hasten on the day 
of its complete redemption. Thou hast promised, 
O God, that thy Son shall have the " heathen for 
his inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth 
for his possession." O, remember these words of 
promise on which thou hast caused us to hope, 
and hasten on the happy time when they shall be 
gloriously fulfilled — when the "knowledge of the 
Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters fill the 
' channels of the deep." 

And now we commit ourselves and all that is 
dear to us to thee. Watch over us, provide for 
us, and receive us at last to Thine Eternal King- 
dom, — all which we humbly ask in the worthy 
name of Christ our Saviour. Amen. 



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